The Federal Police seek to effectively tackle drug crime in Belgium and have submitted proposals to do so in an integrated way, which they are aware will be costly. Top federal police officers have therefore advocated for the creation of a specific fund comprised of money seized from organised crime to tackle the problem.
The Gazet Van Antwerpen were able to preview the draft of the National Drugs Plan which consists of a 44-page piece of work prepared by top police officials.
Alongside existing initiatives which tackle the use, manufacturing and trafficking of drugs, the plan contains a series of proposals to achieve an integrated approach in which all information on criminal group activity in Belgium is centralised.
Coordination and centralised information
One such proposal advocated for by the top federal police chief is to install drug coordinators at the level of courts of appeal in every district. Periodic consultations between major cities to exchange information on local drug phenomena were also proposed.
Police chiefs want to also create a Observatory of Criminal Organisations, in which all information on active criminal groups in Belgium would be centralised,
To detect drug traffickers, the Federal Police have asked for access to the database of FPS Finances (the Belgian tax authorities). However, the taxpayer's Charter makes this cooperation very difficult legally.
An original idea was also launched to track criminal assets of High-Value Targets, namely the use of hackers to go after drug bosses in Dubai financially.
Sticking to the theme of technology, the draft proposed giving police the power to take criminal websites and apps offline. "The supply of drugs today is easily accessible through new technologies, especially the internet... Many drug dealers flood a young audience with messages offering drugs for sale."
Use criminal assets to catch criminals
Authors of the National Drug Plan knows that these proposals will be costly to implement. The solution is to create a specific fund they, therefore, ask to ease the use of confiscated vehicles which presently are left to rust in warehouses.
The Plan was written at the request of the Federal Government. Before it is able to be made publicly available, the draft needs to be finalised.
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Strong criticism came especially from local police as local chiefs of police feel that the Federal Police took little account of specific local problems. For chief constable Nicholas Paelinck, the Vaste Commissie van de Lokale Politie (VCLP) chairman to approve the text, "adjustments [need] to be made to the unfinished product".
The cabinet of Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne acknowledged that the plan is still under discussion and assured that it will not replace the Flow Plan for Antwerp, but will exist alongside it. "The measures we have announced for Antwerp, such as extra manpower for the Public Prosecutors' Office, the Federal Police, and the court in Antwerp remain."
