A Scot accused of murdering a Dutch crime writer in a 2016 shooting has been convicted of the assassination of a Dutch underworld figure outside a sex club.
Christopher Hughes, 33, lured Martin Kok, 49, to his death before he was blasted eight times by a gunman in Laren, The Netherlands on December 8, 2016.
Glasgow man Hughes was also accused of the attempted murder of Kok earlier the same day, being involved in serious organised crime in a raft of European countries, and being concerned in the supply of cocaine.
He had lodged not guilty pleas for all of the charges.
Kok, 49, was shot several times in the head and body as he sat in a car outside the Boccaccio club, which promises on its website: "We can make your wishes and fantasies come true."
Hughes was a high ranking member of a feared Scots crime clan which had worldwide connections including with Colombian drug cartels and the Italian mafia.
On the instructions of the mob, Hughes met Kok at an Amsterdam hotel then the Boccaccio sex club and alerted others to where he was.
As the pair later left - and Hughes patted a cat outside - double murderer Kok was gunned down as a "favour" for seemingly crossing Moroccan-based gangsters.
Hughes' gang has been described as the “most sophisticated” encountered by the authorities, with a commanding hand in the UK's drug trafficking industry and an “unprecedented” arsenal of firearms at their disposal.
The clan’s reach was such they forged links with international mobsters, and they also mingled at showbiz parties across the globe with famous names - including on a luxury yacht to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix where rappers 50 Cent and Nicki Minaj were on board.
Hughes was a trusted member of the mob with jurors shown a photo of him smiling with the two crime lords heading the crew.
They cannot be identified for legal reasons.
He was listed by HMRC as seemingly “unemployed” - but £40,000-a-week “wages” earned him a luxury lifestyle in The Algarve.
A police informant explained to jurors in evidence that he was told to set a meeting up in an Amsterdam hotel between Hughes and Kok.
He said: "I was told it was an arrangement because the lad had access to Martin with a group called the Roccies, a Moroccan crime group, who are all over but more prominent in Amsterdam."
Hughes' boss then organised for him to be picked up as he hid in bushes while mercy crews arrived at the scene.
The killing was seemingly arranged to put an end to Kok's writing about the Netherlands' seedy criminal underbelly on his crime blog, Vlinderscrime.
Kok, himself a convicted murderer, quickly attracted attention because of his cavalier approach to reporting, which included "naming and shaming" those suspected of being involved in criminal activity.
Several attempts were made on his life because of his blogging, which often featured taunts directed at the criminals he wrote about.
But on December 8 2016, two attempts were made that were ultimately successful.
CCTV captured what appeared to be a gunman running up behind Kok as he left a Citizen M hotel in Amsterdam earlier that day.
He appears to hold a firearm to Kok's head before running off. It is unclear whether the weapon jammed, or the would-be killer had second thoughts.
Hours later, the blogger and Hughes left the Boccaccio club in Laren.
As the crime writer climbed into a Volkswagen Polo outside the club, a figure emerged from a bushed area and opened fire, killing him.
The trial, held at the High Court in Glasgow, heard that Hughes dodged the crossfire because he claimed to have stopped to pet a cat.
Kok's funeral was even subject to heavy security, with mourners required to step through a metal detector.
Dutch cops investigating Kok's murder identified suspects after tapping into Police Scotland's investigations of organised crime syndicates, known as Operation Escalade.
They then worked with Scottish officers to bring Kok's killer to justice, hauling Hughes back to Scotland under a European Arrest Warrant in 2020.
Prosecutor Fergus Ewing QC told the court in his closing speech that cops spied on industrial units Hughes visited across Lanarkshire - eventually finding £700,000 and anti-surveillance equipment normally only available to government organisations.
Hughes shook his head after he was convicted and was heard to say "f*** off" when Mr Ewing applied for a serious crime prevention order.
Sentence was deferred pending background reports until next month by judge Lady Scott who continued Hughes' remand in custody meantime.
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