A major police operation by the judicial section of Liège local police, with the support of Namur, Ninove, and Brussels police zones, and Dutch police, resulted in 17 arrests on April 27th, 4 of which were made in Rotterdam, announced Liège local police on Friday. The investigation follows the March 2014 dismantling of a major heroin trafficking ring in Liège as well as running operations in Charleroi and Brussels. At that time, a dozen people were arrested and 33,000 euros, 2.7kg of heroin and 150g of cocaine were seized. Despite this, the organisation continued its criminal activities and Liège court decided to permanently dismantle the network, which was being managed from Rotterdam, says Christian Beaupère, Chief of police in Liège.
The April operation involved 180 police officers and took place on April 23rd. A total of 17 people aged between 20 and 30 were arrested. 13 of them were arrested in Belgium, mainly in and around Liège and Brussels, and the other 4 in the Netherlands where the drugs ring was operating from. During the operation, the police seized 40,000 euros, 4.5kg of heroin, 1.75kg of hashish, 150g of cocaine, 100 smartphones, 4 vehicles and various firearms.
The ring peddled their drugs mainly in Liège before expanding to other areas in February. Dutch suppliers would deliver several kilos of drugs to Liège every three days. Heroin was packaged in 5g bundles each worth 75 euros on the streets. The ring was careful to use Dutch GSM numbers when in Belgium to cover their tracks.
(Source: Belga)
