While record amounts of cocaine are being seized in Europe, violent drug-related offences are on the rise in Brussels.
Jean Spinette, mayor of the Saint-Gilles district, where one man was killed early Wednesday in the culmination of several days of fighting among drug dealers, said:
We’re up against mafia-like organisations.
One of the shootings took place in Saint-Gilles on Tuesday, a day of celebration before Lent, when many schools are closed so children can take to the streets. The series of incidents alarmed the entire country.
Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told reporters on Thursday:
We should continue to invest in security. The events of the last few days show that this is not an unnecessary luxury.
Antwerp is the main way for Latin American cocaine cartels to the continent, so gang violence has been rampant in the Belgian port city for years. Drug use is on the rise across the country, and federal authorities say trafficking is rapidly infiltrating society. Almost every day, Brussels prosecutors report new arrests and large seizures of drugs and cash. The office said:
It’s clear that these are serious matters that are taken very seriously.
The increasing prevalence of crack cocaine and open drug dealing and use in some central neighbourhoods over the past year has exacerbated an already bad situation to the point where petty thefts, fights and harassment of tourists have become routine news in the 11.5 million-strong state.
In 2023, seven people were killed and 131 injured in drug-related violence in Brussels, according to police figures. New data released on Thursday showed that federal police allocated nearly 25 per cent of their investigative capacity to drug-related cases across the country last year.
Spinette said urgent action was needed to tackle criminal organisations with cross-border links. In Brussels, the influence of mobsters from Albania and the French city of Marseille is particularly strong. Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt noted:
I’m convinced that the police and the justice system can be successful against this problem.
Last year, an alleged drug lord from Marseille was arrested in Brussels and sentenced to 12 years in prison. Spinette said, speaking to RTBF media network:
We’re not talking about a little neighborhood deal, a little side business.
He said the problem should be addressed at the initial stage by dismantling the networks. Spinette also called on authorities to bring criminals to justice more quickly to avoid a “sense of impunity.”
Despite the gentrification of some busy streets filled with shops, bars and restaurants, much of Saint-Gilles remains poor. Its central location also makes it a convenient place for dealers. Residents and officials often refer to it as a “drug den.”
The mayor said traffickers return just a few hours after a shooting, angering residents. Spinette said:
They have the impression that nothing is being done. The dealers move back in a minute. There’s a feeling of total impunity. A feeling that they’re safe from everything, that they’re taunting the police.
The murder took place on Wednesday near a square that has become a gathering place for drug addicts and dealers. Following a police operation last year to clean up Belgium’s main railway hub, Brussels Midi station, the Porte de Hal area has seen a flood of drug addicts disrupting the lives of residents and shopkeepers. A business owner, who asked not to be identified for safety reasons, said:
It really went downwards in the space of four, five months. The other day, a guy was injecting himself close to my shop. There is another bloke who often comes to the shop with his face bloodied. And so many owners here have had their store windows smashed. This is unbearable.
