A group of young Moroccans in Amsterdam could develop into the country’s new crime bosses, according to Willem Woelders, departing chief of the city’s detective squad, in an interview with the AD newspaper on Wednesday.

The youths started off as petty criminals five years ago but could take over the role of top underworld figures such as suspected gang boss Willem Holleeder within two years, says Woelders. The group are not afraid of violence, he adds.
But the young Moroccans face competition from the sons of the current generation of top criminals, adds Woelders. ‘In a number of cases it’s: like father, like son. These kids have grown up in a certain environment. That influences them.’
The police chief claimed too that Holleeder, currently on trial for extortion, is also involved in 12 or 13 murders in the criminal circuit.
Woelders, who has headed Amsterdam’s detective branch since 1991, has taken up a new job as interim chief of the Utrecht police corps.