The Federal Police of Limburg seized 74 firearms and arrested 11 people over various actions conducted in May 2025 as part of an investigation into arms trafficking in Belgium and Austria, Europol announced on Wednesday.
Brussels has seen an exponential rise in shootings over the last year and a half. In February, four shootings in one week left one person killed in a drug-related turf war in Anderlecht. In 2024, there were 89 shootings in the Brussels Capital-Region alone, with incidents also reported in Antwerp and Limburg.
This week, with the support of the Austrian intelligence services and Europol, the Belgian police seized 74 firearms, dismantled a synthetic drugs lab and arrested 11 individuals last month.
Over 20 locations in Belgium and Austria were searched during the operation which targeted a criminal network engaged in international firearms trafficking. Investigations have shown the suspects were trading handguns, assault rifles and even grenade launchers.
On the action day, 50 handguns, 4 machine guns, 4 rifles, 1 revolver, 2 alarm pistols, 4 large-capacity magazines for automatic weapons, 16 other magazines and 2 homemade clubs were seized.
In one location, law enforcement officers found a drug laboratory and over 450 kilos of a novel synthetic drug. Furthermore, the site was used as a storage facility for illegal cigarettes.
Belgian law enforcement supported by Austria and Europol in hit against criminal network engaged in firearms and drugs trafficking. Credit: Europol
Belgian authorities had been investigating this criminal network for months, gaining insight into the organisers, their helpers and various buyers. The firearms traffickers based in Belgium are believed to have contacts with weapon traffickers based all over Europe, including Austria.
Two Austrian suspects were arrested in Belgium, and they are believed to have supplied a large number of weapons to the criminal network. They were already known to law enforcement for obtaining large amounts of weapon parts in Austria and illegally exporting them.
In Austria, certain weapon parts can be obtained without a license. This legal situation is often misused by criminals to assemble weapons with parts obtained from various sources, Europol explained in a press release.
After the arrest of the two individuals residing in Austria and the seizure of 50 handguns by the Belgian police, the Austrian Directorate State Protection and Intelligence Service was able to determine that the grips of these weapons were purchased in Austria.
Subsequently, house searches were carried out at the residences of those arrested, as a result of which several data storage devices were seized.
Europol supported the national investigations with operational analysis and coordinated international cooperation.
