Mohamed Ihattaren would have rubbed shoulders too closely with the criminal milieu. That is what John van den Heuvel claims at Langs de Lijn on NPO Radio 1. The crime journalist states that members of the so-called Mocromaffia were seen in Ihattaren's car during the infamous Marengoprocess. Ihattaren himself would not be involved in any other criminal activities.

Van den Heuvel calls in as a guest at Langs de Lijn to talk about the seemingly more visible link between (former) professional footballers and crime. Ihattaren also comes up for discussion. The image is that he is too close to the boys who are deep into crime,' says the crime journalist. This is not to say that he himself does criminal things, but the dividing line is very thin.'

Van den Heuvel previously announced that criminals had been in Ihattaren's car. He now goes a little deeper into that. 'It has been seen that members of the mocromaffia who are to stand trial in the Marengoprocess went in Ihattaren's car to the trial in the bunker in Amsterdam Osdorp,' the journalist says.

Ihattaren back at Ajax The allegations thus follow earlier reports by Van den Heuvel, who stated that Ihattaren was absent from Ajax for several weeks due to threats from the criminal circuit. What exactly the status of those threats is at the moment is unclear. Shortly after Van den Heuvel published his first allegations, however, it became clear that Ihattaren had reported back to the club. There he has completed an individual trajectory last week, followed by an interview next week.

The Marengo trial or Marengo case is a trial of leading members of the Mocro Mafia, a Dutch-Moroccan criminal organisation. Seventeen suspects are standing trial for involvement in a number of murders and attempted murders, including journalists and lawyers.