Belgian drug baron Nordin E.H., nicknamed Dikke Nordin ("Fat Nordin") will appear in court on 7 May in connection with the "Bombs and Grenades" case, a major organised crime case involving arms and drugs trafficking.
The Antwerp Criminal Court had paused his case because an extradition procedure was required in this case. According to the Public Prosecutor, this procedure has now been closed, although the defence has expressed reservations about this.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) extradited Nordin E.H. to Belgium last March, in response to several extradition requests. However, the extradition did not concern the "Bombs and Grenades" case. It is a vast arms and drugs trafficking case involving 50 other defendants in addition to Nordin E.H.
To allow the trial to continue (it was due to start in spring 2022), the judges decided to pause the Nordin E.H. case and deal with it at a later date, once the additional extradition procedure had been finalised.
'Bombs and grenades'
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, the Public Prosecutor confirmed the closure of the extradition proceedings. Nordin E.H.'s lawyer said that he had no confirmation of this in view of the information in the file.
After the extradition was granted, he requested that the case be referred to the President of the Court so that it could be assigned to the Narcotics Division – which is already dealing with five other cases concerning his client, and which is due to meet on 7 November. This request was rejected by the court, which will examine the case on 7 May.
In November, the court handed down sentences of up to 12 years' imprisonment. Three defendants were acquitted and two others received suspended sentences. Criminal assets totalling more than €2.5 million were seized. The case will be heard on appeal in April.
