More than 8kg of drugs, stolen jewellery and 11 poisonous snakes were seized in Belgium during a joint operation with the police and customs services of the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France, Belgian federal police said on Tuesday.
The operation, which took place between 5 and 8 October, targeted organised drug-distribution networks.
During the cross-border operation, 1,642 vehicles, 27 trains and eight coaches were screened in Belgium. Of more than 2,000 people checked, 182 were in possession of illicit drugs and 30 were under the influence of such drugs.
The operation led to the seizure of 15 vehicles and 16 arrests, federal police said in a press release.
Police and customs seized more than eight kgs. of drugs. Those arrested included a 30-year-old Frenchman who was intercepted on the E19 near Antwerp, in possession of 5.9 kgs. of cocaine and 1 kg. of ketamine.
At the same location, police also seized jewellery, probably stolen, hidden in a cache on board a vehicle. The occupants, two Dutch brothers aged 19 and 21, were arrested.
In East Flanders, traffic police seized 11 live venomous snakes from the luggage compartment of a coach. The animals were handed over to a specialist organisation.
