The mayor of the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht Fabrice Cumps (PS) made a plea to strengthen checks on illegal arms trade and trafficking, following the shooting on Wednesday at the Clémenceau metro stop in his municipality.
After an emergency meeting with Interior Affairs Minister Bernard Quintin (MR) and the Brussels Public Prosecutor's Office, Cumps said that the shooting incident is almost certainly related to the territorial war of Brussels' drug gangs.
"The judicial investigation is ongoing, but I think it is very clear what this is all about," he said.
Brussels has been plagued by drug trafficking and the accompanying gun violence for years, but the violence seemed to have derailed even further since last year. In 2024, a total of 89 shootings (up from 43 in 2023) took place in the Brussels-Capital Region, many of them related to the drug environment.
'A cancer for our neighbourhoods'
As the new Interior Minister, Quintin immediately went to the Anderlecht town hall on Wednesday. He stated he is monitoring the situation with the mayor and the relevant authorities. "I came here straight away. I saw the Public Prosecutor and the mayor to be informed by the people who are coordinating everything on the ground." He did not wish to make any further comments.
Cumps is pleased with the early visit of the new Interior Minister, saying that "he has listened to us and is on our side. He too is worried about the situation on the ground and aims to strengthen resources."
Cumps again called for the strengthening of local and federal police, as also agreed in the brand new Federal Government coalition agreement 2025-2029. Among other things, it mentions strengthening the federal police and reforming the KUL standard, the standard that determines the theoretical police capacity per municipality.
Additionally, Cumps pointed out that illegal arms sales must also be curbed. "We must strengthen the controls and checks of arms trafficking and smuggling at our ports and on our roads. This violence is a cancer for our neighbourhoods and municipalities."
Anderlecht Mayor Fabrice Cumps. Credit: Belga
Meanwhile, Brussels neighbourhood associations are demanding urgent and immediate measures against drug violence in Brussels.
Triangle 1070, an Anderlecht neighbourhood and district association, particularly denounces the "tolerance policy" in the municipality, as a result of which entire neighbourhoods, streets and squares in the commune suffer from litter, drug trafficking and violence.
"I have not dared to come to Clemenceau for years," said Goedele Desmet of the committee of the shooting incident. "There is no attention to public space here. Everything is tolerated and the municipality closes its eyes."
Several Anderlecht neighbourhoods are "places where drug trafficking and violence are therefore rampant, just because there is no control," according to Desmet. She spoke of cafes that tape off the windows to hide what goes on inside, or barber shops that "are actually doing very different shady business."
Shocking
Eric Vandezande of the 'Forty Committees' umbrella organisation of Brussels neighbourhood associations also urged the various authorities to step up their efforts and tackle drug trafficking in concrete terms. "It remains shocking that people are walking around with such heavy weapons (a Kalashnikov), early in the morning, while people take the metro to go to work."
According to Vandezande, the cause of the problem is not only local; the Regional Government also has butter on its head. "Since we raised the alarm in 2023, the region has done precious little to counter drug trafficking and violence."
