A Polish man who was arrested this week in connection with the shooting of investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries had links to alleged gang leader Ridouan Taghi, the Telegraaf reports.

Krystian M., 27, is suspected of giving instructions to the two men who are currently on trial for murdering De Vries, who was shot dead on a busy street in Amsterdam last July.

Taghi has not been charged in relation to the death of De Vries, but police believe the assassination was carried out on his orders. He is one of 17 defendants in the ongoing Marengo trial, in which he is accused of organising six assassinations in an 18-month period.

The Telegraaf reported that M.’s name came up in messages between Taghi and his nephew Youssef in relation to a domestic dispute between a member of Taghi’s family and her ex-partner.

M. was asked to deal with the former partner after he ‘went too far’ by kicking in the door of Taghi’s relative.

Youssef was arrested last October at the high-security prison in Vught where Taghi is being held, on suspicion of trying to organise a breakout.

He is also alleged to have tried to bribe judges in Morocco who are presiding over a case against two of Taghi’s brothers, via a contact in Antwerp. They are alleged to have killed the son of a Moroccan judge by mistake while trying to target one of Taghi’s rivals.