11 people were arrested in a series of raids carried out across the Brussels and Flanders regions on Friday following the dismantling of an Albanian-Bulgarian drug trafficking ring in Meise, Flanders, RTL Info reports. Police seized 12 firearms, 40 kilograms of cocaine, 13 kilograms of heroin, around €100,000 in cash, and several vehicles.
The prosecution opened their case into the international criminal organisation at the end of 2021 on the basis of leaked communications from the Sky ECC network. Police deployed tactic weapons units to carry out the raids across the country.
“After a thorough investigation under the supervision of a Brussels investigating judge, the Federal Judicial Police of Hal-Vilvoorde succeeded in identifying an Albanian-Bulgarian gang operating from Meise,” the Hal-Vilvoorde public prosecutor’s office announced. “The criminal association used vehicles with caches to transport narcotics from the Netherlands to the UK, after being stored in various locations in Belgium.”
On Friday, investigators, with the support of federal and local police, intercepted two of these drug convoys, in Aalst and Ypres.
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Police raided locations in the Brussels municipalities of Evere, Saint-Gilles, Auderghem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, and Schaerbeek. In the district of Hal-Vilvoorde, raids occurred in Meise, Grimbergen, Diegem, and Wezembeek-Oppem. In East Flanders, police raided addresses in Sint-Niklaas, Evergem, and Aalst.
