Police officers from the Brussels-Midi police zone have launched a series of operations across Brussels in the past week targeting drug trafficking in hotspot areas Anderlecht, Saint-Gilles and Forest. According to statistics revealed by police, the operation led to modest results.
The operations, carried out with the aid of other local police forces, targeted the Clemenceau, Place de Bethléem and Saint-Antoine neighbourhoods.
During each of the operations, police conducted searches at local businesses, such as bars, restaurants and shops, and also carried out on-the-spot drugs tests of local drivers. According to Chief of Police at the Brussels-Midi police zone, Jurgen de Landsheer, the actions come as part of a "second phase" in the fight against nuisance caused by drug-related crimes.
Police officers state that they seized €18,510, issued 14 fines, temporarily revoked 11 licenses from drivers under the influence of drugs, seized 50 grams of marijuana and 30 packages of drugs, as well as issuing an array of fines for other offenses and nuisance behaviour.
A police car pictured near the Clemenceau metro station after yesterday's deadly shooting, Sunday 16 February 2025, in Cureghem/ Kuregem, Anderlecht, Brussels. Credit: Belga/ Hatim Kaghat
Notably only one dealer was arrested. The police primarily issued fines, including for offenses such as "improper hygiene", "smoking in a public place" and "moonlighting".
De Landsheer told broadcaster VRT that the raids were an attempt by local police to "shift the focus from security assignments to going back into the neighbourhood and tackling the illegal economy linked to drug sales."
In the past few days, the local police force says that it has carried out controls at around 20 businesses in relation to the search for profits from the sale of illegal drugs. The searches are not believed to be directly linked to the hunt for the authors of a series of deadly shootings across Brussels in recent months.
"The combined efforts of the police and other actors must ensure that peace can return to the neighbourhoods," the Brussels-Midi police zone said in a statement. "It is important to continue these efforts and to keep both the drug trade and the associated economy under pressure.
Of last year's shootings in Brussels, of which there were nearly 100, there have been just two convictions by the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office. Faced with the latest spate of violent shootings in Anderlecht, which has already claimed the lives of two people, only two arrests have been made so far.
