A large-scale anti-drug operation took place in Brussels on Monday morning. Around 20 house searches were carried out, leading to the arrest of 13 people believed to be active in a criminal organisation.
As part of the fight against the sale of drugs by criminal organisations in Belgium, a large-scale judicial operation was organised, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office reported on Monday after the operation had ended.
"This Monday, more than 20 searches were carried out, mainly in the Navez neighbourhood in Schaerbeek," Amaury Verhoustraeten, of the Public Prosecutor's Office, said. "These searches targeted the alleged organisers of the drug trafficking."
A total of 150 police officers from the Brussels North Zone, the Brussels Capital/Ixelles, Marlow, Brussels South and Brussels West police zones, as well as Vilvoord-Mechelen and Mons-Quevy, were deployed in the operation. This also marked the first time that the five specialised assistance units (UAS) of the Brussels Police zones were deployed together within the same judicial operation.
A total of 13 people suspected of being active in this criminal organisation were arrested. "The interviews with the suspects will take place within the legal 48-hour period of deprivation of liberty," he said.
"At the end of this period, the Public Prosecutor's Office will be in a position to report on the action taken on these arrests by the investigating judge, as well as on the seizures made." No further comment will be given at this time, "in the interest of the investigation".
Continued vigilance
The Police Zone Brussels North already carried out a large-scale operation in the neighbourhood around Rue Navez in February 2022. It then conducted 17 searches leading to 15 arrests, as well as the seizure of 13 kg of cannabis, 300 grams of cocaine, €150,000 and five vehicles.
Since then, most of those arrested were sentenced to several sentences. The police zone remained present and vigilant in the area as it was aware of the risk of resumption of drug sales in this neighbourhood.
It then emerged that a new criminal organisation had established itself in the neighbourhood. In recent months, the zone's police officers have repeatedly seized narcotics hidden in and around the infamous street, while other officers continued their investigation to uncover the main perpetrators of the gang.
