The 32-year-old Dutchman was shot to death on Thursday in Atizapán de Zaragoza, about 25 kilometers from the capital Mexico City. His identity has been confirmed, according to an anonymous source at the state prosecutor's office to AFP.
Europol lists him as one of Europe's "most wanted fugitives", he is suspected of having smuggled large quantities of cocaine between Brazil and the Netherlands. He was sentenced to over seven years in prison in October 2020, according to Europol's website.
The 32-year-old is also said to have faked his own death in October last year in the Mexican cartel stronghold Culiacán, in the midst of a raging war between two factions of the Sinaloa cartel.
According to local media, he was accused of links to one of the factions, but no evidence of his death was found at the time, except for a statement from an alleged girlfriend who claimed to have recognized the body.
