Police from the Brussels south zone discovered seven cannabis plantations during 14 drug raids in different locations across the city on Wednesday morning.
The raids took place in Auderghem, Forest and Schaerbeek, and saw police seize around 2,600 cannabis plants, 14 kilograms of cannabis ready for sale, significant sums of money, as well as a number of cars.
Overall, 15 people were arrested during the raids, which are part of a criminal investigation into a drug-trafficking related case.
One of the raids took place at a house on Rue Pierre Schoonejans in Auderghem. At around 6:30 AM, the police, who were armed, broke open the house and burst into the building to discover a cannabis plantation hidden inside, BX1 explains.
I got "the shock of my life," a neighbourhood resident from Auderghem told Nieuwsblad.
"Suddenly the street was full of police and I heard a bang, perhaps [someone] knocking open the door," the resident added.
As the police have been busy carrying out the raids throughout Wednesday morning, the Brussels public prosecutor will not comment on the situation until late on Wednesday.
Evie McCullough
The Brussels Times