30 arrested in major drug trafficking investigation in Belgium
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Loading... - Melanie Corbyn
- 16 Feb 2022
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Police in Belgium detained 30 people during an investigation of a major drug trafficking operation in at least seven countries, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The federal prosecutor’s office said at least 10 other arrests were made abroad.
Police officers carried out 49 searches across Belgium, most of them in and around Brussels and the port city of Antwerp. Prosecutors did not say what was seized during the operation.
"Liaison officers from Europol, Italy and Spain were able to follow the operation live and share information about simultaneous operations in other countries,” the prosecutor’s office said, adding that about 60 searches took place in Spain, Italy, Germany, Croatia and the Netherlands.
Belgium has become a major hub trafficking drugs into Europe. With thousands of containers reaching Antwerp every day, the city is one of Europe’s main ports of entry for cocaine.
Prosecutors said an investigation launched two years ago uncovered an international drug trafficking network involving suspects who originated mainly from Eastern Europe.
Most suspects lived in the Brussels district, and the organization has drop-off points near the Antwerp port, where cocaine arrives from South America, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors alleged the suspected traffickers worked in cahoots with "nationals from southern Europe” who belong to crime families in Limburg, Netherlands. Read More…
