Excavations began Monday morning at a landscaping contractor in Poppel (Ravels) as part of an investigation into the so-called Kempen waste mafia.
The Antwerp Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed a report by Gazet Van Antwerpen, stating the works were carried out under its orders.
Investigators have already discovered industrial salt, illegal construction debris, and other unidentified substances.
Similar excavations were conducted in Ravels in mid-November, during which chemical fumes were released in the process.
Authorities believe that key suspects in the case may have disposed of illegal construction waste, chemical waste, and potentially materials from drug labs.
"A criminal organisation may have processed waste illegally to store the contaminated products in manure storage or reprocess them in the soil," Kristof Aerts of the Antwerp Public Prosecutor's Office said in October.
The municipalities of Merksplas and Ravels have joined the case as civil parties, partly to avoid bearing the financial burden of the cleanup alone.
On 21 October, police raided several addresses in Baarle-Hertog, Merksplas, and Ravels in the Flemish Region. Six suspects were arrested: four men aged 32, 33, 33, and 64, along with two women aged 63.
An illegal weapon was found during the searches, and investigators seized more than €430,000. Additional searches were conducted in the Netherlands.
