Police in Dubai have arrested the suspected head of a cocaine trafficking gang described as the most wanted man in the Netherlands.

Ridouan Taghi, 41, who was wanted on international arrest warrants for murder and drug trafficking, was held at a house in the Gulf emirate on Monday.

Taghi , who was born in Morocco, gained international notoriety in September when a Dutch lawyer for a state witness in a case against him was shot dead near his home in Amsterdam.

The Dutch police chief, Erik Akerboom, said Taghi’s arrest was of “great importance for the Netherlands”.

Dubai police said Taghi entered the city through its airport using a passport and a visa with a fake identity.

They said he was living in a residential area in Dubai where he was not engaged in any criminal activity and had assistants from various nationalities.

Dutch media said Taghi was accused of cocaine trafficking. The Netherlands and Dubai have no extradition treaty but authorities were working on transferring him, the broadcaster NOS said.

The killing of the lawyer, Derk Wiersum, in Amsterdam in September raised the pressure on Dutch authorities to act.

Wiersum was the lawyer for a state witness named Nabil B in a case against Taghi and another suspect wanted on similar charges, Said Razzouki.

The Netherlands has long been known for its tolerant attitude towards marijuana but a report commissioned by Amsterdam city council this year said it now had a big problem with drugs and the criminal underworld.

One of the main Dutch police unions said at the time that the lawyer’s shooting was “confirmation that we live in a narco-state”.