Ricardo Riquelme Vega, also known as El Rico, is a Chilean criminal, who had been convicted of ordering an assassination and laundering drug money.[1] [2]
His first arrest for cocaine trafficking was in Germany in 1999.[1]
He is believed to be a right-hand man of Naoufal Fassih and a senior member of the gang responsible for the murder and beheading of Nabil Amzieb.[1]
He was arrested in a hotel in Santiago, Chile in October 2017.[1]
On 31 May 2021 he was convicted of operating an assassination ring and laundering drug money.[2] The trial was held in a fortified court known as De Bunker near Amsterdam Airport Schiphol.[2] The court heard that he was in contact with Ridouan Taghi about organising murders.[2] Judges were also told his phone had a video featuring both Daniel Kinahan and Raffaele Imperiale.[2] It was alleged that Vega, Kinahan, Imperiale and Naoufal Fassih were involved in a drugs cartel that dominated the market in Europe.[2]