Three men are due to appear before the Brussels Correctional Court on 23 May for a kidnapping in the capital's Saint-Gilles area in May 2024.
The incident occurred during the night of 14-15 May on Joseph Claes Street. A witness called the police after seeing someone being dragged into a vehicle. The Brussels Federal Judicial Police (PJF) quickly located one of the vehicles involved with the help of the Rivierenland police zone. A second vehicle was identified shortly after with assistance from the East and West Flanders road police.
That same night, Antwerp navigation police received a report from Germany about a possible hostage-taking. A journalist reported that a friend had been kidnapped and a ransom was demanded. Based on this report, Antwerp PJF identified the alleged kidnapping victim and soon linked it to the eye witness account.
A few hours later, around 1:30 a.m., police held three people near Marke in West Flanders. Two were released after questioning, while the third was placed under arrest. The kidnapping victim was found in good health a few days later.
The Brussels PJF conducted further investigations and in September, two additional suspects were detained. Investigators suspect the kidnapping was in retaliation for the theft of five kilogrammes of cocaine and that the suspects had sought a ransom as “compensation,” a claim the suspects deny.
