A gang leader dubbed the “Taghi of Curaçao” by prosecutors has gone on trial at the Netherlands’ high-security prison in Vught, where he is being held for his own safety.
Shurendy “Tyson” Q. is accused by public prosecutors of being one of the leaders of the No Limit Soldiers, a Curaçao gang, and of involvement in eight murders as well as several attempted killings.
Q. was extradited from Dubai in June and followed Monday’s opening hearing by video link from his cell. The prosecution is being made from Curaçao but being heard in the Netherlands, and is expected to run well into next year, with around 13 separate case files and large volumes of encrypted communication still to examine.
Much of the evidence consists of encrypted messages that prosecutors say were used to discuss targets, money and killings. Prosecutors told the court there was no doubt that Q. was the user of the accounts.
No Limit Soldiers gang members have been convicted of serious drug offences and murders in the Caribbean. Its members are also implicated in the 2013 murder of Curaçao politician Helmin Wiels.
In 2014, Q. was acquitted in the Netherlands after judges found prosecutors had not proved he was behind a set of intercepted messages. The next hearing is on 27 November.
