He currently faces a potential 20-year sentence in a separate drug case, with prosecutors seeking a heavier penalty.

Considered one of Europe's largest drug traffickers, El Ballouti is also subject to U.S. sanctions due to his extensive criminal activities.

The Belgian public prosecutor's office has linked him to an 11-ton cocaine seizure at the Port of Antwerp in April 2021, discovered after the hacking of the Sky ECC cryptophone system.

Othman El Ballouti, a notorious Belgian drug trafficker known as the 'king of coke', was arrested after years of hiding in Dubai.

He is accused of running a significant drug smuggling operation from the Port of Antwerp, a crucial entry point for narcotics in Europe.

El Ballouti has been under U.S. Treasury sanctions since 2023 for allegedly leading an international criminal organization and engaging in money laundering.

While in Dubai, he owned 11 properties valued at 7.5 million euros, claiming his wealth came from luxury watch sales.

Belgium signed an extradition treaty with the UAE in late 2021, which may facilitate El Ballouti's return to Belgium despite challenges in judicial cooperation.

His criminal activities have had tragic personal consequences, as his 11-year-old niece was killed by a stray bullet in Antwerp in January 2023.

El Ballouti, the son of Moroccan immigrants, grew up in Antwerp's Borgherhout district, an area known for drug trafficking.

In September 2023, he was sentenced in absentia to seven years in prison in Antwerp for trafficking 840 kg of cocaine.

The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control has targeted him, linking his drug and money laundering networks to Chinese firms and South American cocaine suppliers.