Two Fratelli Italian restaurants in Leidschendam and Voorburg closed unexpectedly this week after their owners were convicted of drug trafficking.
The district court sentenced Aziz A.
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to six years and six months in prison, and his son Ayoub Aarabe to six years for cocaine trafficking and organizing international drug shipments.
The court also ordered the pair to repay 500,000 euros in criminal proceeds, noting that the restaurants served as meeting hubs for criminal contacts.
Some regional branches under different ownership remain unaffected. A spokesperson for a former family-linked location confirmed the split from the founders.
“The business has been sold, we no longer have anything to do with that family,” said the manager in Den Haag.
Co-owner Ayoub Aarabe expressed strong disagreement with the ruling and confirmed an appeal has been filed.
He described the decision as an “unfathomable ruling” in an interview with Voorburgs Dagblad.
“I am in a very bad movie,” said Aarabe.
He maintained his innocence and said they expected acquittal based on how the trial progressed. “We had to wait three years for this hearing.
During the trial, I actually felt that things were going well and I was convinced that we would be acquitted.
Then you suddenly get a conviction like this. It is unbelievable,” he said.
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Aarabe emphasized the family’s decades of entrepreneurship. “We are not just going to put forty years of our family's entrepreneurship at stake, are we?
