The trial of an international drug ring, allegedly led by Flor Bressers (37) and Brazilian Sergio Roberto de Carvalho (65), is set to restart on Monday in the Bruges criminal court.
The proceedings had previously been halted in February after all three judges were successfully challenged. Monday’s session will serve as a new preliminary hearing to determine the timetable for the trial debates.
The case began in late 2019 when investigators discovered that the Antwerp water treatment company Kriva Rochem was involved in cocaine imports from Brazil. In April 2020, 3.2 tonnes of cocaine were intercepted in Rotterdam’s port, concealed in manganese ore containers, leading to the arrest of Kriva Rochem’s 80-year-old CEO and several of his relatives in June 2020.
Investigators later uncovered encrypted phone conversations suggesting the drug shipments were part of a much larger operation. In November 2020, Europol revealed that at least 45 tonnes of cocaine had been smuggled through European ports in just six months. A subsequent international operation resulted in 38 arrests in Brazil, alongside detentions in Belgium, Spain, and Dubai.
Flor Bressers, who is considered one of the key figures in the criminal organisation, was arrested in Switzerland in February 2022 and has remained in custody since. Similarly, Sergio Roberto de Carvalho was detained in Hungary in June 2022 and extradited to Belgium a year later.
A total of 31 suspects have been referred to the Bruges criminal court, including Bressers’ alleged lieutenants, his girlfriend, and former high-profile lawyer Pol Vandemeulebroucke. The federal prosecutor claims Vandemeulebroucke shared documents from the Kriva Rochem drugs case with Bressers during the latter’s time on the run.
Dutch lawyer Cem Polat is also accused of participating in the criminal organisation, allegedly sharing confidential information on three occasions with gang members. While a Bruges court initially dismissed charges against Polat, an appeal by the federal prosecutor led to his referral to trial.
Attempts to commence the trial have encountered significant hurdles. Defence lawyer Hans Rieder previously filed unsuccessful challenges against the court’s jurisdiction and the presiding judges. Following a series of incidents during earlier hearings, including heated altercations that led to the removal of two defence lawyers by police, further challenges resulted in the recusal of the judges in January.
Three new judges have been appointed to oversee the case, but no objections have been raised against them as of Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, two key developments have arisen since the abrupt suspension of the trial.
In February, a suspect nicknamed “Brick,” Flamur S., was extradited from Turkey to Belgium. The Albanian man, previously convicted of cocaine smuggling, allegedly acted as a money courier for Bressers’ organisation and recruited others to extract drugs from containers.
Separately, in January, Dubai extradited Stefan Papic (30) to the Netherlands. Papic, a Bosnian Dutchman, is suspected of orchestrating drug transports within Bressers’ operation under the alias “Max” on encrypted Sky ECC messaging platforms. Papic is also linked to laundering millions through an art and design business in Breda, allegedly tied to Edin Gacanin’s “Super Cartel,” a coalition of European drug networks.
Belgium had requested Papic’s extradition from Dubai, but this was denied. Although Papic was temporarily released upon arrival in the Netherlands, he was re-arrested shortly afterward under a Belgian-issued European arrest warrant. Whether he will be transferred to Belgium remains uncertain.
