An examining magistrate in Antwerp has placed five persons suspected of drug trafficking under arrest following a police raid last week on a hangar in Beveren, East Flanders. The Council Chamber also confirmed the arrests.
More than 11 tonnes of cocaine transported through Belgian ports were seized in July alone. During the raid in Beveren, a shipment of 2.4 tonnes of cocaine was intercepted. Police also seized six vehicles, two motorbikes, several encrypted phones, a firearm, scramblers, ammunition and €16,000 in cash.
Earlier this month, four suspects were arrested in a warehouse in the Antwerp district of Merksem after 6.8 tonnes of cocaine were found in a banana container in the port. Police also seized firearms, magazines, ammunition and jammers.
These seizures follow the discovery of 2.14 tonnes of cocaine on 6 July in a container from Ecuador, which also contained bananas.
Belgian customs seized a total of 43 tonnes of cocaine in the first half of the year.
