Europol’s Most Wanted Marco Ebben Killed in Mexico…Again?

"Socalj" for Borderland Beat

Dutch drug trafficker Marco Ebben was reportedly killed in a parking garage near Mexico City. This is not the first time Ebben has been reported shot dead in Mexico.

In May last year, Ebben briefly spoke to the news outlet Rijnmond to say that he had nothing to do with a series of explosions targeting a plumber in Vlaardingen. 

In June, Ebben was injured in a shooting in Turkey in which he was reportedly chased by men on motorcycles who opened fire on his armored car with an automatic weapon.

In late October last year, several sources told Rijnmond that Ebben had been killed in a shooting in Mexico.

Death First Reported in 2024

At that time, Marco's father, also a well-known drug trafficker and suspected killer in Schiedam, told De Telegraaf that Ebben died in a gunfight. It is believed Marco had allied with the MF/Mayito Faction in their war against Los Chapitos.

Imprisoned Dutch rapper Djaga Djaga posted a RIP message and image of Ebben on his Instagram @hetkind.

The Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reported in October that it took place on September 22 in Culiacán, Sinaloa.

 

His body had disappeared with only some leaked images of a bloody man being tended to by medics to provide proof. Dutch news outlets reported that the family stated his sister was in Mexico identifying the body of Marco at a morgue and his Russian wife was there as well.

Rotterdam detectives visited his family for more information, requesting an official death certificate. None was provided at the time.

"I no longer doubt that I have lost my son. Marco was always crazy about weapons and did not avoid dangerous situations despite warnings. He said he was convinced that he would not make it to 30 years. I hope that we can still say goodbye to his body," said father Henk Ebben, who says he is angry that the police keep approaching him. "They should leave us alone," he thinks.

But Marco was not dead at that time. Ebben’s death in this recent shootout has not yet been officially confirmed by Dutch authorities just yet either.

Ebben has been on Europol’s list of wanted criminals for some time now. In October 2020, the court sentenced Ebben to 7 years and 4 months in prison for drug trafficking over 400 kilos of cocaine from Brazil to the Netherlands. He still had to serve a prison sentence in the Netherlands for his role in the drug trafficking case involving corrupt customs officer Gerrit G.

He claimed his travel and lavish-living lifestyle was because of his rich Russian in-laws and connections to governmental figures in Russia and Italy. But his underworld connections supposedly stretched also into Turkey, China, New Zealand and Albania, speaking several different languages.

In Mexico, he became close to the Mayo faction. Possibly back as far as 2013 when Chino Anthrax was arrested in the Netherlands, at the time, Marco was already working for his father, known trafficker Henk Ebben.

Shooting in Mexico City

In July of 2024, he had traveled to Sinaloa, Mexico on a Russian passport soon after the attack in Turkey. He traveled there to supposedly going to support the La Mayiza faction led by Ismael Zambada Sicairos 'Mayito Flaco'.

Users on Reddit were claiming that the group sporting the Dutch flag was actually created by Marco Ebben, who went by the alias “El Fantasma,” and was essentially a hired mercenary in Mexico fighting for Mayito Flaco’s faction in their war against the sons of "El Chapo."

Journalist Oscar Balderas reported that Ebben's role was key in the acquisition of sophisticated weapons for the carte. "The weapons that Marco Ebben obtained for the Sinaloa Cartel were not simple AK-47s or AR-15s, but advanced military weapons that are not easily obtained in any country."

In addition, he was said to be in charge of brokering cocaine shipments from Latin America to the Netherlands, Spain, Italy and Turkey, as well as managing investments in offshore companies for the cartel's money laundering.

Nothing had been seen or reported about Ebben since his first alleged death in Sinaloa. Until now as reports of his death in a parking garage outside of Mexico City and the seizure of weapons belonging to Ebben and his men.

Clearly, he was not killed in Sinaloa last year. 

Marco Ebben was found on February 13, in between two cars, reportedly shot 15 times. He was heading towards his armored Cadillac Escalade in the parking lot of Plaza Antigua, Atizapán de Zaragoza, Mexico. 

According to Mexican media, Ebben was killed just before a planned SEMAR operation to raid his safehouse was to occur. Less than 15 minutes was the time difference. The upscale neighborhood outside of Mexico City's police department is managed by the Mexican Navy. It is possible he was warned of the raid and was attempting to flee and the gunmen took advantage of that.

His Level 5 armored Cadillac Escalade, was previously registered in Nuevo Leon and sold for nearly $150,000 USD.

Fake DEA ID

Among his personal belongings was a fake DEA identification badge in his wallet. The poor quality forgery features the correct El Paso DEA office address but the incorrect DEA insignia (or even a current DOJ seal. The Special Agent In Charge named on the badge is Jesus Antonio Velas[]quez Rivas.

He also had a Mexico voting ID card in the same false name so he could pose as a local or an American DEA agent. However, if discovered together, the two IDs contradict each other. Plus, a tall Dutchman using a Mexican name, pretending to be an American DEA agent also isn't the most under the radar method of hiding out in Mexico.

According to Mexican reporter Antonio Nieto, Ebben met with two DEA agents in December and that may be the reason the Dutchman was murdered.

Captured after the discovery of his body was 4 of his gunmen/bodyguards, one posing as a police officer. Those arrested also included a former Mexican Navy SEMAR soldier and two former Mexican Army soldiers, all originally from Guerrero.

Inside the safehouse was a variety of weapons, body armor, knives and even part of a ghillie suit.

Ebben was reportedly ambushed and shot 15 times by 2 men using .223 and 9mm weapons. According to reports, no one came to his defense and the blood seemingly is only visible under Ebben's body; indicating an inside job, or he could in fact be faking his death yet once again. 

This time, unofficially, Mexican authorities have confirmed his death. Experts confirmed Ebben's identity, an official at the state prosecutor's office told AFP, asking not to be named because they were not authorized to talk about the case.

"I have seen the photos. It seems very likely that it is my client," lawyer Jan-Hein Kuijpers told the news agency. "His father also thinks it is Marco."...Again.

Sources Borderland Beat, NOS, De Telegraaf, NL Times, Milenio, C4Jimenez, Roman Publishing, C4Jiminez, Worldwar X, Antonio Nieto, Geenstilj

Categories: marco ebben, sinaloa cartel