US EditionBelgium To Deploy Soldiers in Brussels as Drug Violence Escalates
Eight suspects with prior drug trafficking convictions were arrested after a four-month probe into an assassination plot linked to Albanian crime networks, officials said.
- On Tuesday, Belgian federal police arrested eight men in coordinated dawn raids across Brussels and Leuven, following searches of 18 homes after Defence Minister Theo Francken announced plans for soldier deployment.
- Intelligence received earlier this year, including EncroChat intercepts revealing a 1 million contract on Julien Moinil's life, triggered a four-month investigation in Brussels plagued by more than 100 criminal networks.
- The eight detainees are currently being questioned, and an investigating judge will decide custody later today or tomorrow; Ann Fransen said suspects have prior drug convictions and Moinil's threat level rose to 4.
- Federal prosecutor Ann Fransen renewed calls for stronger protection for judges and police, while several magistrates from the federal prosecutor's office work full-time amid federal police staff shortages.
- Officials link the surge in Brussels drug violence to Marseille gang wars and Albanian criminal networks, while Julien Moinil warned `Anyone, every Brussels resident and every citizen, can be hit by a stray bullet.
50 Articles
50 Articles
Belgium To Deploy Soldiers in Brussels as Drug Violence Escalates
Belgium will deploy soldiers on the streets of Brussels before the end of the year, Interior Minister Bernard Quintin confirmed on Thursday, November 20th, as the government intensifies efforts to stem a surge in drug-related violence that has shaken the capital and raised fresh concerns about the country’s vulnerability to organised crime. Speaking on public broadcaster RTBF, Quintin said the measure “is not merely symbolic,” insisting that vis…
The day Brussels stood still
The first lockdown in Brussels took place on 21 November 2015. Given the vast reduction in numbers and size of terrorist attacks over the last decade, it is worth reflecting on the successes of the security services in France and Belgium
Eight suspects were arrested in a case involving the personal security of the Brussels prosecutor and are suspected of inciting an attack.
Suspects have a judicial record of drug trafficking and would be linked to organized crime structures in the Albanian environment
Belgian prosecutor may have been in danger of being killed by people with ties to the Albanian underworld.
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