Belgium's dedicated Drug Commissioner has called for new legal measures to target the leaders of drug gangs, including a clamp down on owners of "flashy cars" and other luxury goods who cannot prove they have a legal income.
Speaking on Flemish public radio (De Ochtend), National Drug Commissioner Ine Van Wymersch said that the current legal burden of proof should be reversed if people have a suspiciously large amount of goods compared to their social status.
She gave the example of unemployed youth driving "flashy cars", saying they should have to prove they have a legal income or lawfully obtained the car.
"These systems do not exist now, but if we want to tackle organised crime, we have to create them," she said.
Commissioner Van Wymersch said she believes this measure could counter drug trafficking and its linked violence.
As reported by Belga, Van Wymersch told De Ochtend that drug-related violence has always been present, but previously it was conducted unseen. She said that now, it is increasingly happening in public, as witnessed in Brussels recently.
A spate of four shootings over three days in Porte de Hal earlier this year led to the launch of a co-ordinated policing effort across 15 "hotspots" in Brussels.
To combat criminal organisations, the Commissioner said she believes in disrupting their business models, for example by reversing the burden of proof.
If an individual cannot provide proof that they legally obtained luxury goods, Van Wymersch said that tax authorities should step in, adding that similar mechanisms are already in place in the UK.
Van Wymersch assumed the newly created role of National Drugs Commissioner in 2023, and has been since been collaborating with a wide spectrum of government departments and sectors of Belgian society to tackle organised crime.
