Escaped criminal Gerel P., suspected of ties to Taghi, arrested in Brazil

The Brazilian police have arrested the fugitive Dutch criminal Gerel P., the Dutch Public Prosecution Service confirms. P. was arrested in an apartment in Barra da Tijuca, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro. Further details about his arrest are not yet known.

38-year-old P. was convicted in absentia in the Netherlands for two murder attempts after he managed to escape from a Surinamese cell in 2017. He is also associated with the circle around Ridouan Taghi.

At the end of 2016, P. shot two men from Rotterdam without provocation near a meadow in Noordeloos, near Gorinchem. They were seriously injured, but survived the assassination attempt.

A few months later, P. was arrested in Suriname by an arrest team. After 11 days in pre-trial detention, he escaped from prison with the help of a firearm. Then he disappeared without a trace.

The Public Prosecution Service is going to ask for the extradition of P. This could take several months, depending on his willingness to cooperate in his return to the Netherlands.