Brussels police arrested two drug dealers at Ribaucourt metro station on Saturday evening.
At around 18:00 on Saturday, officers from the Brussels-West police zone witnessed a drug deal taking place outside Ribaucourt metro station in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.
Among a group of men, one man took a bag of white powder out of an electronic cigarette and handed it to another, who then handed him back a sum of money.
When police approached the group, one man attempted to run away and elbowed a police officer, but both he and the other suspect were intercepted and arrested.
Both suspects are undocumented migrants and were found to be in possession of 2.41 grams and 3.81 grams of cocaine and two mobile phones.
Upon searching their homes, police discovered several bags of cocaine weighing 17.27 grams in total, €158.40 and weighing scales.
Brussels' drug 'hotspots'
Ribaucourt is one of Brussels' 16 drug "hotspots" and is therefore subjected to increased police surveillance in a bid to control drug dealing and accompanying feelings of insecurity.
The non-profit sector working with drug addiction and homelessness has previously criticised the strategy for "stigmatising" economically disadvantaged areas and "displacing" drug dealing, rather than tackling the problem at its root.
The illegal drug trade often employs vulnerable undocumented migrants. "Young people can earn enough to buy trainers, and undocumented people can earn enough to eat. But they all risk their lives," Saint-Gilles Mayor Jean Spinette told The Brussels Times in September.
The Brussels-Capital Region extended the hotspot strategy by another six months in October, when Minister-President Rudi Vervoort (PS) reiterated the importance of local efforts in the face of international crime.
