Five suspects have been arrested in Antwerp for large-scale drug trafficking following a joint operation by Belgian and Dutch police and judicial services.
Among the arrested are the alleged organiser and four individuals apprehended while attempting to extract drugs at the harbour. Another suspect was also captured in the Netherlands.
The investigation in Belgium started after a police check on the Brussels ring road discovered 22 kilograms of cocaine in a car that had departed from the Antwerp district of Deurne. Antwerp police then took over the investigation, connecting several people and vehicles to the case and exposing an organisation involved in drug transportation and extraction.
Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, an investigation was launched into cocaine trafficking, firearms, and explosives based on intercepted chat messages. Investigators identified two brothers as the organisers, one of whom frequently travelled to Antwerp.
The two investigations merged in late November when two drug extraction attempts from the Antwerp harbour were foiled. Six people were arrested, with four eventually detained. Links were established between the Belgian and Dutch investigations, suggesting that the Belgian part of the drug gang was orchestrated from the Netherlands.
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This week, one of the two suspected organisers, a 29-year-old Dutchman, was arrested in Antwerp. The second organiser was arrested simultaneously in the Netherlands. Searches in the Netherlands led to the seizure of luxury items, cash, mobile phones, and digital storage devices.
The suspected organiser arrested in Antwerp remains in custody, along with the four apprehended during the extraction attempt. The second suspect is detained in the Netherlands.
