The private residence of Federal Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne in Kortrijk in the West-Flanders province has been put under increased police surveillance again, only months after threats were made against him from the drug trafficking world causing him to go under police protection.
Van Quickenborne's home is again under strict surveillance by local and federal police, similar to the situation at the end of September when the police had got wind of plans to abduct the minister. In that investigation, four suspects are now in pre-trial detention. The threat is said to come from the drug environment.
"[Wednesday evening], we have new information related to the possible threat against Minister Van Quickenborne. We are evaluating that information and we will investigate it thoroughly," spokesperson for the Federal Prosecutor's Office, Eric Van der Sypt, told VRT.
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It reportedly concerns a level four threat – which means the likelihood of an attack would be serious and very close – but the Federal Prosecutor's Office did not confirm that information.
"We are, of course, not taking any risk, either with the minister or with his family. Additional security measures have been agreed," Van der Sypt said. "I think it is evident that we cannot say anything about that, only that there is increased security."
On Wednesday evening in an interview on VRT broadcast #BelRiadh, Van Quickenborne refused to comment on the situation, saying that clear agreements about it were made with the security services.
