In the fight against drug trafficking, the City of Brussels/Ixelles police zone made several breakthroughs in major investigations in recent weeks. Several people were arrested, and large amounts of drugs and cash were seized.
As part of the fight against the sale of drugs by criminal organisations in Brussels, the Drugs Section of the City of Brussels/Ixelles police zone has been working on a string of investigations. In some cases, police "achieved some handsome results", the zone said in a press statement.
"On Wednesday 2 October, 12 searches took place as part of a file of the Drugs Section," the police noted. "This is an investigation into the sale of cocaine and cannabis throughout the Brussels region." The investigation started late last year after the arrest of a cocaine dealer.
Five suspects were arrested in the latest searches, of whom two were placed under arrest warrant. During the searches, €52,000 was seized, as well as two Rolex watches, 300 grams of marijuana, 50 grams of cocaine and four vehicles.
On the same day, five searches took place involving an investigation into a gang that imported cannabis through Thailand. Just over 26 kilograms of cannabis was found on a pallet on which boxes of latex gloves were stacked. Again, two suspects were made available to the prosecution. However, they were conditionally released. Meanwhile, the judicial investigation continues.
€1.8 million in cocaine
Several days before, on 22 September, detectives, with the anti-robbery brigade in assistance, raided a flat in Anderlecht. "There, they discovered a suspected drug lab where the substance procaine [a dental anaesthetic, Ed.] was used to further cut cocaine."
Two suspects, who were migrants without residence permits in Belgium, were arrested, followed by a third person shortly after. "A lot of material used to cut cocaine was also recovered in the apartment," the police noted, adding that this is suspected to be the first dismantled drug lab in the country using procaine.
Two days earlier, on 20 September, the anti-robbery brigade seized just under 50 kilograms of cocaine, with a street value of around €1.8 million after the patrol witnessed suspicious actions and a traffic violation in the centre of Brussels.
"Two suspects were caught with a large sports bag in which as many as 45 packs of cocaine of 1.1 kilograms each were hidden. These two suspects were also made available to the prosecutor's office and placed under arrest," the police concluded.
