Ten individuals were apprehended on Tuesday evening in Ravels, in the Antwerp Kempen, following an investigation into drug trafficking, the Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office said on Wednesday. It was the first time that the government had taken a decision on the matter.
The local police areas of North-East Kempen and Turnhout became aware on Tuesday evening of a suspicious situation at the intersection of the Kanaaldijk and the Steenweg in Ravels, on the border between Ravels and Old Turnhout.
Several cars with Dutch number plates are believed to have been driving back and forth. A police patrol was able to intercept one of these cars with two Dutch nationals. The latter appeared to be known to the Dutch justice system for drug-related offences. Shortly after, the police caught up with a man in his thirties who, after spotting them, had tried to turn right to avoid them.
According to their Waze application, the two Dutchmen were on their way to an address on Kanaaldijk, where a rental shed was located. After consulting with the Public Prosecutor’s Office, police raided the address and found seven more men there alongside a container with 68 bags of cocaine.
The ten suspects were arrested and will be brought before the investigating judge in Turnhout after being questioned.
