Brussels federal judicial police have rounded up a criminal organisation that was smuggling drugs to the United Kingdom on a large scale, the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office announced on Tuesday morning.
The network, whose leaders were Albanian nationals, allegedly used Greek truck drivers to transport cocaine between Belgium and the UK. Several suspects were arrested in some 30 house searches on Monday.
"The organisation operated from several locations in Belgium, mainly in the Brussels-Capital Region, but also in Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant," the Brussels Prosecutor's Office said. "In yesterday morning's operation, some 30 searches were carried out in these different zones, during which several suspects were arrested and evidence seized."
Searches in Mechelen (Antwerp province), Kortenberg and Zaventem (Flemish Brabant) and Sint-Truiden (Limburg). In the process, investigators seized two handguns, cash, luxury items and several vehicles.
Dismantling the entire network
"These seizures contribute to the dismantling of the network by revealing the financial and logistical resources allegedly used by the suspects in their illegal activities," the Prosecutor's Office said.
They added that the criminal organisation used transport companies to disguise the transportation of the drugs, by hiding the loads of drugs in trucks carrying legal goods. This way, the drugs were smuggled discreetly across the Channel to supply the English market.
Before Monday's operation, investigators had already monitored several suspicious shipments, allowing French and English authorities to seize both cargoes of cocaine and significant sums of money.
The investigation will now continue to identify all those responsible and dismantle the network even further.
