Othman El Ballouti: journey of a drug trafficker who became a businessman in Dubai

Othman El Ballouti, 37, is one of the first cocaine traffickers to flourish his illegal activities in Dubai. Since his last conviction in 2013, he has disappeared from the radar. He is not the subject of any arrest or search warrant.

The drug trafficker grew up in Borgerhout, in a family of four brothers and three sisters. For him, going to school was a waste of time. His only ambition is to become a millionaire, he admitted to his teachers at the SISO 2 school in Deurne. The young man began selling drugs for a local gang leader, before being put in charge of recovering drug shipments. On the night of April 21 to 22, 2011, he was arrested in flagrante delicto with Ibrahim EM, his right-hand man, in the port area. A third suspect managed to flee. Found guilty, Othman and Ibrahim were sentenced in 2013 to two years in prison for organizing a criminal gang.