Belgian police launched one of its largest-ever operations against the mafia on Wednesday morning.
Police conducted raids in the Flemish city of Limburg, while international partners also carried out searches in France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Germany, Le Soir reports.
The raids are part of a Europe-wide operation between police forces, Eurojust, and Europol. A source close to the case – called the "Eureka" operation – told RTBF that it was “one of the biggest operations carried out in Europe against the mafia.”
According to the Belga News Agency, six people have so far been arrested in Belgium, 108 in Italy, nine in Germany, three in France, and three more in Portugal, Romania, and Spain. In Belgium, more than 20 properties were searched.
"This morning, a large-scale European operation took place in several countries. It concerns a case opened by the Belgian federal prosecutor's office, in collaboration with the Limburg prosecutor's office, the Federal Judicial Police, Eurojust, Europol, and several countries, in particular Italy," the prosecutor's office announced in a press release. Belgian authorities are due to host a press conference sometime this morning.
Belgium, the mafia's second home?
The raids were conducted on the back of information collected by the Belgian police and SFP Justice on the activities of the Ndrangheta, the Calabrian mafia, one of the most powerful mafias operational in Europe and across the globe. Much of the mafia’s money comes from drug and people trafficking.
An investigation published by Italian media L’Eurispes in 2021 alleges that Belgium is a “crossroads” for various mafia groups, who compete for control of lucrative drug trafficking routes. Many of these gangs are linked to drug trafficking between the port of Antwerp and the Netherlands.
“The Italian Mafia has been established in Belgium for a long time, especially in some areas,” the investigation noted. “Cosa Nostra and Stidda in Liège, Charleroi and Mons, less so in Brussels and Antwerp. Families linked to the ‘Ndrangheta are established in Limburg and involved in the drug market in Antwerp (such as the Aquino family).”
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The Aquino clan, one of Belgium’s most prolific Italian mafia families, has been involved in a string of violent crimes across the country over the last two decades. In 2015, one of the Aquino family members, Silvio, was found shot dead in a forest near Limburg. In 2020, police forcibly dismantled the crime group, which was trafficking thousands of kilograms of cocaine.
Other mafia groups from Albania, Moroccan, Chechnya, Nigeria, Bulgaria, and other countries are also active within the country.
