One of the Netherlands’ most wanted men, who has been linked to a string of gangland killings, is holed up in Dubai, the Telegraaf said on Wednesday.

Police have been hunting Radouad Taghi, 41, for 18 months and he is now thought to be in the Gulf state, where his wife and six children have been living for some time, the paper said.

Taghi, said by the public prosecution department to operate a ‘well-oiled killing machine’, is wanted in connection with five murders and three attempted murders as well as plotting three other killings.

Last week the public prosecution service issued new photos of Taghi and his right-hand man Said Razzouki which had been aged to show what they may now look like.

The photos were shown on television crime show Opsporing Gezocht, which generated 29 tips, the paper said. Of those, 20 are usable, spokesman Wim de Bruin told the Telegraaf.

Last year the public prosecution department issued a €100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of either man.