WEBVTT - Episode 1 - Murder Brokers 0:00:15.647 --> 0:00:20.927 Pushkin Just a quick note before we start today's show. 0:00:21.327 --> 0:00:24.327 You can listen to Hot Money, the New Narcos ad 0:00:24.407 --> 0:00:28.647 free by becoming a Pushkin Plus subscriber. Find Pushkin Plus 0:00:28.647 --> 0:00:31.887 on the Hot Money Show page in Apple Podcasts or 0:00:31.927 --> 0:00:36.927 at pushkin dot fm, slash Plus. With your subscription, you'll 0:00:36.967 --> 0:00:40.887 also get access to ad free binge opportunities from Malcolm 0:00:40.927 --> 0:00:45.687 Gladwell's revisionist History, The Happiness Lab from Doctor Lori Santos, 0:00:46.047 --> 0:00:48.767 and tons of other top shows in the Pushkin Network. 0:00:49.247 --> 0:00:53.367 Sign up in Apple Podcasts or at pushkin dot Fm, 0:00:53.527 --> 0:00:58.167 slash Plus. 0:01:00.487 --> 0:01:03.247 I'm Miles Johnson, and I'm an investigative journalist with the 0:01:03.247 --> 0:01:06.367 Financial Times and the story I'm gonna tell you it's 0:01:06.407 --> 0:01:09.327 not a love story, but his stoughts with a wedding. 0:01:10.167 --> 0:01:13.087 It's a wedding that takes place in Dubai in twenty seventeen. 0:01:14.527 --> 0:01:17.127 It's a hot summer's day at the Burj Al Arab, 0:01:17.647 --> 0:01:20.567 one of the most expensive hotels in the world. It's 0:01:20.607 --> 0:01:24.167 a skyscraper shaped like the sail of a ship, rising 0:01:24.247 --> 0:01:28.447 up from the glittering water of the Persian Gulf. Guests 0:01:28.527 --> 0:01:31.327 can arrive across a private bridge in the hotel's fleet 0:01:31.367 --> 0:01:35.087 of rolls, Royce phantoms or flyin landing on the helipad 0:01:35.087 --> 0:01:38.487 on the roof. The wedding party that day has been 0:01:38.487 --> 0:01:43.007 told to keep things discreete no photos and no social media. 0:01:43.527 --> 0:01:47.847 Security is tight. The groom is a young Irish entrepreneur 0:01:48.127 --> 0:01:50.687 and some of his most important business partners have come 0:01:50.727 --> 0:01:54.327 to celebrate his big day. But these aren't your average businessmen. 0:01:55.767 --> 0:01:59.527 Some of them hang priceless stolen masterpieces on their walls. 0:02:00.247 --> 0:02:04.607 They've got multiple passports with multiple identities, and they can 0:02:04.727 --> 0:02:09.207 order the assassination of almost anyone anywhere in the world. 0:02:10.647 --> 0:02:14.327 Because this isn't just a wedding, this is an international 0:02:14.367 --> 0:02:17.247 crime summit. It's a meeting of what will come to 0:02:17.287 --> 0:02:21.767 be known as the Dubai Supercartel, a shadowy criminal network 0:02:21.927 --> 0:02:26.367 that controls a multi billion dollar cocaine empire spanning the globe. 0:02:30.247 --> 0:02:32.887 Over the years, I've written about a lot of different things, 0:02:33.167 --> 0:02:36.167 but more recently you could perhaps describe my beat as 0:02:36.207 --> 0:02:40.047 the places where crime and business collide. I've written about 0:02:40.287 --> 0:02:44.207 Russian billionaires who control private mercenary armies and the Italian 0:02:44.247 --> 0:02:47.247 mafia laundering their cash through the City of London. Have 0:02:47.367 --> 0:02:51.847 covered Vatican, financial scandals and spy rings that smuggle microchips. 0:02:52.407 --> 0:02:56.287 Because crime is a business, and modern organized crime groups 0:02:56.567 --> 0:03:01.527 they're increasingly run like multinational companies. They have thousands of employees, 0:03:02.047 --> 0:03:07.767 complicated logistical supply chains, and even investment portfolios. It's a 0:03:07.807 --> 0:03:10.807 big economic story, but you don't usually read about it 0:03:10.847 --> 0:03:14.927 in the business pages because reporting on international crime groups 0:03:14.927 --> 0:03:18.007 in the same way we'd report on a blue chip corporation, well, 0:03:18.007 --> 0:03:21.967 it's hard. Crime bosses they don't usually have pr teams 0:03:22.047 --> 0:03:25.327 you can bring up, and mafias. They don't publish audited 0:03:25.367 --> 0:03:29.607 accounts or glossy annual reports. But the money generated by 0:03:29.647 --> 0:03:33.967 organized crime is vast, and most of the time it's invisible. 0:03:34.527 --> 0:03:38.247 It's like this ocean of shadow cash. We know it's there, 0:03:38.647 --> 0:03:41.807 but we can't ever really see it. It's trillions of 0:03:41.847 --> 0:03:45.607 dollars and it fuels things like weapons trafficking and war. 0:03:46.167 --> 0:03:49.887 It can even topple governments. And the men celebrating in 0:03:49.967 --> 0:03:52.287 that wedding in Dubai. They've come up with a new 0:03:52.367 --> 0:03:55.807 model of organized crime, and it's become so successful that 0:03:55.847 --> 0:03:59.367 by twenty seventeen, police believe that they control a third 0:03:59.407 --> 0:04:03.007 of Europe's cocaine market worth billions of dollars a year. 0:04:04.687 --> 0:04:07.527 When I first came across the du By Supercartel, it 0:04:07.527 --> 0:04:11.327 seems like something from a film, something almost ridiculous, like 0:04:11.487 --> 0:04:15.087 Specter from James Bond. I needed to find out more, 0:04:15.327 --> 0:04:18.167 so I started talking to people. I met with sources 0:04:18.167 --> 0:04:22.487 in law enforcement, undercover agents, spies. I got hold of 0:04:22.527 --> 0:04:26.887 legal documents and investigative dossiers, and then I realized, this 0:04:27.007 --> 0:04:30.087 isn't just a story about crime. This is a story 0:04:30.327 --> 0:04:34.207 about a secret economic war. It's a story about who 0:04:34.247 --> 0:04:37.607 gets to control how money moves around the world, and 0:04:37.647 --> 0:04:40.647 where the Western government can keep hold of that power 0:04:40.927 --> 0:04:44.887 as the rules based international order breaks apart. Because I 0:04:44.967 --> 0:04:49.407 discovered that the Dubai Supercartel, they're not just hiding from governments, 0:04:49.807 --> 0:04:54.407 they're working alongside them. But my first clue to understanding 0:04:54.407 --> 0:04:57.447 how this group of criminals became so rich and so 0:04:57.607 --> 0:05:00.847 powerful it took me somewhere that's a million miles away 0:05:00.847 --> 0:05:04.207 from the bling of a Dubai wedding, because one day 0:05:04.607 --> 0:05:06.727 I was speaking to a source and they told me 0:05:06.807 --> 0:05:11.167 something I just really wasn't expecting. They said, if you 0:05:11.247 --> 0:05:14.767 really want to understand how all of this works, you 0:05:14.847 --> 0:05:16.647 have to go and look at a murder in a 0:05:16.687 --> 0:05:24.807 small town in the Netherlands. This is Hot Money. Season 0:05:24.807 --> 0:05:53.887 two the New Narcos episode one, Murder Brokers. 0:05:53.887 --> 0:05:56.047 One of the good things about being a crime reporter 0:05:56.407 --> 0:05:59.407 is let you talk to everyone who wants to talk 0:05:59.447 --> 0:06:03.767 to you, very different people, and I like to do that. 0:06:05.447 --> 0:06:09.287 This is Paul Volks. He's a reporter in anster that 0:06:09.807 --> 0:06:12.127 and for more than twenty years he's been working the 0:06:12.127 --> 0:06:15.847 local crime beat for Het Parole, a daily city newspaper. 0:06:17.127 --> 0:06:20.207 Paul wears black t shirts and a leather jacket and 0:06:20.247 --> 0:06:23.407 has a gold hoop in one ear. He's old school. 0:06:23.807 --> 0:06:28.047 He's not posting hot takes on social media. When I 0:06:28.087 --> 0:06:30.687 first met Paul, he didn't take long before he showed 0:06:30.687 --> 0:06:34.887 me his bike. He rides it everywhere down cobblestone streets 0:06:34.927 --> 0:06:38.247 and squares and along beautiful canals, going to coffee shops 0:06:38.247 --> 0:06:41.327 and bars to meet his sources. But if that sounds 0:06:41.327 --> 0:06:44.007 a bit quaint, there's a fast, seedy aside to Amsterdam 0:06:44.207 --> 0:06:47.767 that keeps a crime reporter like Paul pretty busy. Because 0:06:47.807 --> 0:06:50.367 Amsterdam is famous for his beauty, but it's also well 0:06:50.407 --> 0:06:53.327 known for its red light district. It's relaxed drug laws 0:06:53.447 --> 0:06:57.327 and a vibrant criminal underworld, and that means Paul always 0:06:57.367 --> 0:07:02.967 has plenty to write about. Like all good crime reporters, 0:07:03.087 --> 0:07:06.727 Paul works his beat. He speaks to everyone. He talks 0:07:06.767 --> 0:07:11.407 to police officers, lawyers, the local prosecutor's office. But Paul 0:07:11.487 --> 0:07:14.447 is also always cultivating his underworld sources. 0:07:15.407 --> 0:07:18.927 I tried to build my network step by step because, 0:07:19.367 --> 0:07:22.327 as you might know, as a crime journalist, your colleague 0:07:22.367 --> 0:07:25.207 cannot give you his or her network. That's not possible. 0:07:26.207 --> 0:07:29.447 And he learns early on the criminals well, they care 0:07:29.487 --> 0:07:34.127 about journalistic standards too. A notorious underworld figure reaches out 0:07:34.127 --> 0:07:36.207 to Paul about a mistake he thought he'd made in 0:07:36.247 --> 0:07:38.607 one of his articles, because he wanted to set the 0:07:38.647 --> 0:07:39.327 record straight. 0:07:40.287 --> 0:07:43.407 But the first time, of course, I thought where to meet, 0:07:43.767 --> 0:07:48.047 how to meet, how to keep it safe. I learned 0:07:48.207 --> 0:07:51.927 quite fast that some public space as a coffee bar, 0:07:52.607 --> 0:07:56.487 is the best place to sit. Or an airport where 0:07:56.527 --> 0:07:59.087 everybody knows there are lots of cameras, there's a lot 0:07:59.087 --> 0:08:02.407 of security. Nothing will happen there. You'll know for sure 0:08:02.567 --> 0:08:05.927 that all eyes will be focused on you as a criminal. 0:08:05.927 --> 0:08:09.207 And I we don't fit in so if something weird 0:08:09.287 --> 0:08:12.207 would deppen, everybody would be a witness and they know 0:08:12.247 --> 0:08:14.087 it as well. 0:08:14.247 --> 0:08:18.847 Back in twenty fifteen, Paul is busy covering crime in Amsterdam. Muggings, 0:08:19.247 --> 0:08:22.327 rival gangsters trying to kill each other, batches of dodgy 0:08:22.407 --> 0:08:25.407 drugs that put people's lives in danger. These seem like 0:08:25.407 --> 0:08:27.647 the sort of things you'd imagine happen in any big city. 0:08:28.527 --> 0:08:32.287 Then one morning in December, he gets a call. It's 0:08:32.327 --> 0:08:33.527 from the police department. 0:08:34.567 --> 0:08:37.087 A man in his fifties was shot with one bullet 0:08:37.127 --> 0:08:39.887 in the head and standing next to his fan. Going 0:08:39.927 --> 0:08:44.727 to work from Amsterdam. I went to Almira, which is 0:08:44.767 --> 0:08:45.767 twenty minute rides. 0:08:46.407 --> 0:08:50.527 Is it somewhere you expect there to be shootings, murders? 0:08:50.567 --> 0:08:52.647 You know what sort of areas there's There are lots 0:08:52.647 --> 0:08:54.127 of crime there. What's it like? 0:08:54.967 --> 0:08:57.767 The area and they live in in Alma is just 0:08:58.047 --> 0:09:01.087 very normal neighborhood with normal working class people. 0:09:02.127 --> 0:09:03.527 Not much trouble over there. 0:09:04.647 --> 0:09:07.847 When Paul arrives, there's already red and white tape blocking 0:09:07.847 --> 0:09:10.567 the area and police up a tent to cover the body. 0:09:11.047 --> 0:09:13.607 He gets out his notebook and starts to gather the facts. 0:09:14.407 --> 0:09:17.887 The victim is called Ali Mtamad. He's fifty six years 0:09:17.887 --> 0:09:20.487 old and he's an engineer at the state electric company. 0:09:21.007 --> 0:09:23.887 He's got a wife, a son. He's a family man. 0:09:24.327 --> 0:09:27.087 But there isn't much else to go on. The electrician 0:09:27.127 --> 0:09:28.847 doesn't seem to have any connection to crime. 0:09:29.687 --> 0:09:34.647 All the sources I asked, nobody knew who was this Alimodamet. 0:09:35.727 --> 0:09:38.127 To Paul, it just seems to be a random shooting, 0:09:38.647 --> 0:09:40.567 So he heads back to his office and files a 0:09:40.607 --> 0:09:44.847 short story. A few weeks later, his editor asked him 0:09:44.847 --> 0:09:47.247 to write a roundup of the most notable crime stories 0:09:47.247 --> 0:09:49.647 of the last year, and the murder in al Mayor 0:09:49.927 --> 0:09:53.207 doesn't make the cut. Paul goes back to riding around 0:09:53.207 --> 0:09:56.807 on his bike and meeting his sources. But in the 0:09:56.847 --> 0:09:59.967 months after, Paul finds that he can't get the Matamid 0:10:00.047 --> 0:10:03.527 case out of his head. That thing when you write 0:10:03.567 --> 0:10:06.047 a story and you have a nagging voice in your head, 0:10:06.247 --> 0:10:09.967 maybe there's something that I'm missing. Paul's covered a lot 0:10:09.967 --> 0:10:14.447 of murders, but this one it seems weird. He can't 0:10:14.447 --> 0:10:19.647 shake the feeling that something doesn't quite add up. The 0:10:19.687 --> 0:10:22.527 first thing is the style of the killing. It wasn't 0:10:22.527 --> 0:10:25.687 a sloppy job or a wild act of rage. 0:10:25.887 --> 0:10:29.407 The thing was that one shut through the heads. It's 0:10:29.447 --> 0:10:34.607 not the familiar way of assassinating people. In other assassinations, 0:10:34.967 --> 0:10:39.687 automatic rifles are used, many bullets are shut. 0:10:39.847 --> 0:10:42.527 And then there was the motive. One theory is that 0:10:42.647 --> 0:10:45.767 Mtommed was part of some family feud or had argued 0:10:45.807 --> 0:10:48.847 with a friend. Most of the murders, Paul writes about 0:10:48.847 --> 0:10:51.487 that kind of thing, or criminals killing each other over 0:10:51.607 --> 0:10:55.807 money or tough settling scores. But that didn't really fit 0:10:55.927 --> 0:10:58.727 with the matomic case. So there were other theories. 0:10:59.447 --> 0:11:03.367 Oh, maybe electricians so him. Maybe he was in hemp business. 0:11:03.767 --> 0:11:06.127 The hemp people they need illegal electricity. 0:11:06.927 --> 0:11:10.247 Hemp is another name for weed, and some weed grows 0:11:10.247 --> 0:11:14.247 in the Netherlands steel electricity to power their operations. Matammed 0:11:14.327 --> 0:11:17.287 was an electrician. Maybe that was his connection to crime. 0:11:18.007 --> 0:11:20.567 Maybe he was a wrong person. That was an idea. 0:11:21.447 --> 0:11:25.367 This seemed like the most plausible explanation, a terrible case 0:11:25.407 --> 0:11:30.327 of mistaken identity. Paul keeps thinking about it as he 0:11:30.407 --> 0:11:34.047 drops into cafes to meet informants about other stories. He 0:11:34.127 --> 0:11:35.447 mentions Alimtammad's name. 0:11:36.127 --> 0:11:40.327 Criminals didn't know him, Policemen didn't know him. I tried 0:11:40.367 --> 0:11:43.007 to do some research, but I didn't get a clue. 0:11:43.047 --> 0:11:46.567 To be honest, as a reporter, you can have dozens 0:11:46.647 --> 0:11:49.887 of meetings that lead to nothing, but once in a 0:11:49.927 --> 0:11:53.687 while you get lucky. And that's what happens to Paul. 0:11:55.127 --> 0:11:57.567 Out of nowhere, he gets a tip. 0:11:58.647 --> 0:12:04.527 I was talking to some source I knew very well, 0:12:05.487 --> 0:12:08.327 and this source A told me just at the second 0:12:08.527 --> 0:12:11.487 cup of coffee in and he said, well, you remember 0:12:11.567 --> 0:12:14.927 this story of Alimo Damett. You're working on that still, Yes, 0:12:15.807 --> 0:12:18.247 you should go on and go on and dig and dick, 0:12:18.367 --> 0:12:22.167 because there's a very weird, big story behind this murder. 0:12:37.327 --> 0:12:40.047 Paul wasn't the only person thinking about what happened in 0:12:40.127 --> 0:12:41.007 al Mayor that day. 0:12:41.887 --> 0:12:47.647 I remember this, this shooting December fifteenth. Your really nice 0:12:47.687 --> 0:12:50.247 neighbor got guilt. Nobody knows why. 0:12:51.487 --> 0:12:55.087 At the time, Eliam was involved with the local city council. 0:12:55.767 --> 0:13:00.167 So yeah, I remember it was like this mystery for 0:13:00.247 --> 0:13:01.887 people like, well, what happened? 0:13:02.887 --> 0:13:06.647 Uler say. He's this intense guy who locks you into 0:13:06.647 --> 0:13:09.967 his gaze, and he's a sharp dresser. When we meet, 0:13:10.047 --> 0:13:13.327 he's wearing this charcoal suit and a black unbuttoned shirt 0:13:13.447 --> 0:13:17.487 down to his chest. When Alimtammed is murdered, Ulis is 0:13:17.527 --> 0:13:21.047 just getting into local politics. He's a spokesperson for safety 0:13:21.047 --> 0:13:23.847 in public order in our mayor where Alimtammad was killed. 0:13:24.487 --> 0:13:29.567 What was strange in this case there was nothing and 0:13:29.767 --> 0:13:35.247 this was fueled by the National police. 0:13:36.367 --> 0:13:39.207 Police appealed on national television for any information that the 0:13:39.207 --> 0:13:40.367 public could give them. 0:13:40.967 --> 0:13:43.127 Have any tips, do you have any suggestions. We put 0:13:43.167 --> 0:13:44.287 out this reward. 0:13:44.327 --> 0:13:48.687 But no one came forward. A year goes by, still nothing. 0:13:49.767 --> 0:13:52.367 I thought, this is getting this is getting a bit weird. 0:13:52.887 --> 0:13:56.007 So we don't have any clues to find the shooters. 0:13:56.567 --> 0:14:00.087 There's no information about the circumstances of the of the shooting. 0:14:02.127 --> 0:14:05.767 Ulisse is particularly interested in this case because Alimtomed, it 0:14:05.807 --> 0:14:10.127 turns out, was born in Iran and his own family 0:14:10.287 --> 0:14:12.807 also moved to the Netherlands from Iran around the same 0:14:12.807 --> 0:14:14.247 time that alimtammedd did. 0:14:14.727 --> 0:14:19.247 I'm named after Odysseus, you know, the Greek king, because 0:14:19.287 --> 0:14:22.207 my father was he was reading Odysseus and my father 0:14:22.407 --> 0:14:25.167 was like, okay, I lost my home. I don't know 0:14:25.207 --> 0:14:27.447 where my home will be, but I'm sure this baby 0:14:27.487 --> 0:14:28.447 will find a new home. 0:14:30.007 --> 0:14:33.607 Ulissa's father was a critic of the hardline theocracy imposed 0:14:33.607 --> 0:14:36.727 by the new regime in Iran after the revolution. He 0:14:36.807 --> 0:14:39.727 knew his life might be in danger if he stayed. 0:14:40.287 --> 0:14:44.047 He had to go into hiding very fast. He never 0:14:44.127 --> 0:14:46.647 had the chance to say goodbye to his mother, for example, 0:14:46.847 --> 0:14:48.287 because it was too dangerous. 0:14:48.887 --> 0:14:51.847 First his father moved to Afghanistan, where Ulisse was born, 0:14:52.647 --> 0:14:55.127 and then they moved to the Netherlands, eventually settling in 0:14:55.167 --> 0:14:58.447 al Mayor. Ulisse grew up in the same sleepy suburb 0:14:58.447 --> 0:15:00.407 where Alimtammed lived and died. 0:15:01.247 --> 0:15:03.687 I've been living there for twenty years now. And the 0:15:03.727 --> 0:15:06.327 funny thing is, or the special thing, it also relates 0:15:06.367 --> 0:15:11.007 to my history, you know, like it's a newc the province. 0:15:11.607 --> 0:15:14.367 One of the nicknames is like new land because it's 0:15:14.407 --> 0:15:18.527 built from water. Yeah, and my family came to a 0:15:18.567 --> 0:15:21.167 new land. It started a new life. So yeah, it 0:15:21.247 --> 0:15:22.487 all connects really nicely. 0:15:23.727 --> 0:15:27.007 Ulisses father became a law professor and he kept speaking 0:15:27.007 --> 0:15:30.047 out against the Iranian regime from his new home. But 0:15:30.087 --> 0:15:33.167 there was a cost, and this became a reality when 0:15:33.167 --> 0:15:36.487 the family moved to our Mayor. His father started getting 0:15:36.527 --> 0:15:37.367 serious threats. 0:15:38.207 --> 0:15:42.287 At that time, my father received a massive security protection. 0:15:43.727 --> 0:15:48.647 I was young, You're still focused on things you do 0:15:48.767 --> 0:15:52.327 when you're at that age, you know, playing football, trying 0:15:52.327 --> 0:15:55.687 to enjoy life. But yeah, when you see your dad 0:15:56.367 --> 0:16:02.927 being transported with multiple bodyguards, yeah, of course your life changes. 0:16:03.887 --> 0:16:06.407 So decades later, when an Iranian man is shot in 0:16:06.447 --> 0:16:10.487 his hometown, it gets Ulysses' attention. Even more so when 0:16:10.527 --> 0:16:13.927 police finally share what they've pieced together from CCTV footage, 0:16:14.487 --> 0:16:17.247 it shows that the idea the assassin's made a mistake 0:16:17.847 --> 0:16:22.287 looks less and less plausible. This was a meticulously planned operation. 0:16:25.327 --> 0:16:29.287 The police report is a difficult read. It's a chilling 0:16:29.287 --> 0:16:34.687 account of a cold, premeditated murder planned over weeks, and 0:16:34.727 --> 0:16:38.287 it reveals that the killers made two failed attempts in 0:16:38.287 --> 0:16:43.087 the days before Alie Mtummed was shot. On December eleventh, 0:16:43.247 --> 0:16:46.327 twenty fifteen, at around quarter past six in the morning, 0:16:47.327 --> 0:16:50.927 a blue BMW drives slowly down the dark suburban street. 0:16:52.407 --> 0:16:55.727 The driver stops outside one of the houses and turns 0:16:55.767 --> 0:17:01.207 the car's headlights off. Inside, Alie Mtammed is getting started 0:17:01.247 --> 0:17:05.087 with his day. Usually he leaves his house a quarter 0:17:05.167 --> 0:17:09.327 to seven, but today he has a job nearby, so 0:17:09.367 --> 0:17:13.087 he leaves later at eight thirty am. At about eight am, 0:17:13.327 --> 0:17:15.767 the driver of the BMW turns the car back and 0:17:15.887 --> 0:17:22.047 leaves the street. A few days later, Monday, December fourteenth, 0:17:22.487 --> 0:17:27.087 the BMW arrives again at around quarter past six. It's 0:17:27.127 --> 0:17:29.807 a regular work day, and Mohammed walks out of his 0:17:29.807 --> 0:17:32.927 front door a little before seven. A neighbor is also 0:17:33.047 --> 0:17:35.687 leaving their house at the same time, and the driver 0:17:35.767 --> 0:17:43.327 of the BMW spots him and Muhammed and drives off. Tuesday, 0:17:43.447 --> 0:17:48.967 December fifteenth, the BMW appears at six o'clock. Mohammed's wife 0:17:49.087 --> 0:17:51.607 and teenage son are asleep upstairs as he steps out 0:17:51.647 --> 0:17:54.807 of his house and shuts the front door. That is 0:17:54.887 --> 0:18:00.687 dark outside. No neighbors around this morning. As the electrician 0:18:00.727 --> 0:18:03.327 walks towards his van, a man walks up behind him 0:18:03.487 --> 0:18:06.327 and shoots him in the head. Mahammed slumps to the 0:18:06.367 --> 0:18:09.527 ground and the shooter gets back in his BMW car 0:18:09.527 --> 0:18:10.127 speeds off. 0:18:14.687 --> 0:18:18.007 They hit him directly left with the car I think, 0:18:18.207 --> 0:18:23.087 if I remember correctly, BMW five. They went to the 0:18:23.127 --> 0:18:27.007 specific spot in another part of Olmer, burned the car 0:18:27.207 --> 0:18:27.727 and they leave. 0:18:28.727 --> 0:18:31.807 The BMW was found burned out a few miles away 0:18:32.327 --> 0:18:34.647 and witnesses saw two men walking off. 0:18:35.367 --> 0:18:39.247 There's all the signs of professionals in the criminal circuit, 0:18:40.167 --> 0:18:42.487 so that made it even more strange, like, okay, this 0:18:42.527 --> 0:18:45.927 is really professional, and still we don't have any idea 0:18:47.127 --> 0:18:48.007 why who. 0:18:50.487 --> 0:18:53.007 This is the point that I started to see the 0:18:53.007 --> 0:18:56.487 first flicker to realize what a murder in a small 0:18:56.567 --> 0:19:00.167 Dutch town could have to do with the supercartel and 0:19:00.287 --> 0:19:03.247 what that could mean. Because Paul has kept on digging 0:19:03.567 --> 0:19:05.927 and he's made an unbelievable discovery. 0:19:06.487 --> 0:19:09.487 And I remember reading it and I think think it 0:19:09.527 --> 0:19:13.767 was on a sunny Monday morning, and I immediately I knew. 0:19:14.287 --> 0:19:16.527 I felt in all my body, I know, wow, this 0:19:16.767 --> 0:19:18.367 is crazy. 0:19:19.647 --> 0:19:23.487 In twenty eighteen, Paul breaks a big story and it's 0:19:23.527 --> 0:19:27.167 not about the murderers, it's about the victim. 0:19:27.567 --> 0:19:30.767 I found out that Ali Motamet was not Ali mota Met, 0:19:30.887 --> 0:19:35.247 the electrician. He was an electrician, yes, but he lived 0:19:35.287 --> 0:19:38.007 in Holland with a false identity. 0:19:40.007 --> 0:19:45.007 Ali Matamid was, in reality and assumed identity the electrician 0:19:45.007 --> 0:19:48.007 from our mayor had been living a secret life, one 0:19:48.127 --> 0:19:51.167 so secret that even some members of his own family 0:19:51.287 --> 0:19:52.527 didn't know who he really was. 0:19:53.727 --> 0:19:58.127 Ali Motamet was Mohammed Reza colahis so mandy and when 0:19:58.127 --> 0:20:00.767 he was twenty three years old, he plays the bomb 0:20:01.007 --> 0:20:06.727 which blew up seventy four people of the Islamic Republican 0:20:06.767 --> 0:20:07.727 Party in Iran. 0:20:10.087 --> 0:20:15.967 This happened in my city, quite close to where I live, 0:20:17.127 --> 0:20:21.367 and probably the regime, you know, the whole reason I'm 0:20:21.407 --> 0:20:27.087 in Holland. They were able to find someone who they 0:20:27.127 --> 0:20:30.847 were looking for for like at that time, like thirty 0:20:30.887 --> 0:20:36.287 five years, who was like one of their prime targets 0:20:36.327 --> 0:20:41.287 because they wanted to revenge My dad always wanted me. 0:20:41.967 --> 0:20:46.687 They're dangerous, you know, they found him. These are not 0:20:47.167 --> 0:20:49.687 bedtime stories. This is getting real. 0:21:07.287 --> 0:21:11.047 Sometimes you get a glimpse of something, the edge of 0:21:11.087 --> 0:21:13.887 what seems like it might be a much bigger story, 0:21:14.447 --> 0:21:16.967 and it leads you into a whole new place, a 0:21:16.967 --> 0:21:19.807 place where you're not quite sure what's going on, and 0:21:19.847 --> 0:21:23.247 it's hard to know even where to start. That's where 0:21:23.247 --> 0:21:26.447 Paul finds himself after he learns about Ali Mtummit's past. 0:21:27.567 --> 0:21:31.367 I had no sources at all in Iran. I had 0:21:31.407 --> 0:21:34.687 no sources at all in geopolitical world. 0:21:35.967 --> 0:21:38.607 This clearly isn't a local murder case in a small 0:21:38.607 --> 0:21:41.967 town anymore. Paul has been pulled into what looks like 0:21:42.047 --> 0:21:45.847 a targeted assassination plot in the heart of Europe, but 0:21:45.887 --> 0:21:50.727 he doesn't have any proof, just a strong theory. Ulusa 0:21:50.847 --> 0:21:53.647 is looking for answers too. He posts online about the 0:21:53.687 --> 0:21:57.127 case and wonders does anyone know more about Matammad or 0:21:57.287 --> 0:22:01.167 how the Iranian regime might have found him? And Ulasa's 0:22:01.207 --> 0:22:03.287 posts they catch Paul's attention. 0:22:04.167 --> 0:22:08.327 Paul called me, I saw your questions. Let's talk. 0:22:09.087 --> 0:22:12.367 I broke the story. Ulus Elian and I met in 0:22:12.447 --> 0:22:15.967 our mea, had coffee and we tried to make plans 0:22:16.007 --> 0:22:19.207 to find the missing pieces of the puzzle. How can 0:22:19.287 --> 0:22:22.567 we get more insight in the backgrounds. 0:22:22.007 --> 0:22:26.647 Of this Aul? The man his neighbors knew as Alimtomid 0:22:26.687 --> 0:22:29.807 moved to the Netherlands in nineteen eighty five, he wouldn't 0:22:29.807 --> 0:22:32.327 have particularly stood out. It was a time when many 0:22:32.327 --> 0:22:36.527 Iranians were fleeing Iran, just like Ulyssa's father. But Ali 0:22:36.567 --> 0:22:40.927 Mtommid wasn't just fleeing. He was hiding. He was accused 0:22:40.927 --> 0:22:45.967 of carrying out the biggest terrorist attack in modern Iranian history. 0:22:46.007 --> 0:22:49.167 This is a big deal, this bombing in nineteen eighty one. 0:22:49.567 --> 0:22:53.567 It killed a senior Iotola, four cabinet ministers, and reportedly 0:22:53.647 --> 0:22:57.847 dozens of other top Iranian officials. Matamid fled Iran after 0:22:57.887 --> 0:23:00.807 the bombing, but was found guilty in absentia and sentenced 0:23:00.847 --> 0:23:04.367 to death. We don't know much about his years in 0:23:04.407 --> 0:23:06.927 the Netherlands, but we do know that he adopted a 0:23:06.967 --> 0:23:10.607 new identity and built a new life. He married a 0:23:10.647 --> 0:23:13.567 woman who was originally from Afghanistan. They had a son, 0:23:14.087 --> 0:23:16.487 and Matammed got a job at the local electric company. 0:23:17.727 --> 0:23:21.247 For years, he led a simple suburban life. He went 0:23:21.287 --> 0:23:24.087 to work at the same time most days. His neighbors 0:23:24.127 --> 0:23:27.967 thought of him as punctual, trustworthy. No one really knew 0:23:28.047 --> 0:23:32.047 much more about him, but secretly, Mahamed knew that the 0:23:32.047 --> 0:23:35.167 Iranian regime was still looking for him, so he was 0:23:35.207 --> 0:23:39.887 incredibly careful. Reportedly, he didn't even tell his wife his 0:23:39.967 --> 0:23:43.927 true identity until a few years before his death, and 0:23:43.967 --> 0:23:48.607 his son had no idea about Mtummed's past. I keep 0:23:48.647 --> 0:23:51.927 thinking about the loneliness and the isolation of someone who's 0:23:51.927 --> 0:23:54.287 bearing this huge secret from the people in their life 0:23:54.327 --> 0:23:57.727 who they're closest to, someone who spent almost his entire 0:23:57.807 --> 0:24:00.447 adulthood trying to stay one step ahead of people he 0:24:00.527 --> 0:24:03.887 knew were trying to kill him. Mahammed was careful to 0:24:03.927 --> 0:24:07.567 avoid his photograph appearing on social media, but not long 0:24:07.607 --> 0:24:11.207 before his murder he seemed to slipped up. A single 0:24:11.247 --> 0:24:14.327 photograph of him went up on Facebook celebrating his teenage 0:24:14.327 --> 0:24:19.007 son's high school graduation, and months later a BMW pulled 0:24:19.087 --> 0:24:25.367 up outside his house early in the morning. So this 0:24:25.407 --> 0:24:27.807 is a story I've been told to look at the 0:24:27.887 --> 0:24:31.247 murder of a man living a secret life, a man 0:24:31.287 --> 0:24:35.887 on the run from a powerful regime. At this point, 0:24:36.367 --> 0:24:39.127 I can't see the connection between this murder and the 0:24:39.167 --> 0:24:44.447 Dubai supercartel. But then a few months later, something happens 0:24:44.487 --> 0:24:47.127 that takes us one step closer to understanding how all 0:24:47.207 --> 0:24:52.527 of this works. In April twenty sixteen, two Irish detectives 0:24:52.647 --> 0:24:55.887 arrive at a residential address not far from Dublin City Center. 0:24:57.087 --> 0:24:59.167 They have a search warren because they've heard that an 0:24:59.167 --> 0:25:01.807 apartment in this building is being used as a safehouse 0:25:02.047 --> 0:25:06.647 by Ireland's most powerful and dangerous criminal organization. But inside 0:25:06.927 --> 0:25:10.687 there are no irishmen. Instead, the officers find a short 0:25:10.727 --> 0:25:13.727 man with a large belly who speaks only broken English. 0:25:14.727 --> 0:25:17.927 It's clear the man is rich. He's wearing bright blue 0:25:17.967 --> 0:25:22.607 designer sneakers covered in studs. When the detectives search the flat, 0:25:22.647 --> 0:25:26.327 they find thirteen thousand euros in cash and two Rolex watches. 0:25:27.527 --> 0:25:31.527 What's less clear is his identity. He has two different IDs, 0:25:31.927 --> 0:25:35.287 one Dutch one Belgian, each with a different name. 0:25:37.247 --> 0:25:40.327 I remember the morning on which he was arrested and 0:25:40.367 --> 0:25:43.647 I can tell you nobody knew who he was. Shamus 0:25:43.647 --> 0:25:47.287 Boland is Detective Chief Superintendent in the Irish Police Force. 0:25:47.607 --> 0:25:50.967 His officers raided the apartment that day. He was arrested 0:25:51.767 --> 0:25:55.207 for a possession of false documents and there was no 0:25:55.367 --> 0:25:57.327 certainty abode his identity at all. 0:25:58.207 --> 0:26:00.487 The police take him to the station and send his 0:26:00.487 --> 0:26:03.967 fingerprints and photo off to law enforcement agencies around the world. 0:26:04.847 --> 0:26:10.087 It's following his arrest and US issuing a an assistants 0:26:10.167 --> 0:26:14.327