The Termonde Criminal Court delivered a tough verdict on Tuesday in the so-called “Kookwas” drug case, sentencing 24 defendants to prison terms ranging from 30 months to 15 years.
The case centred on the importation of cocaine and the establishment of processing laboratories. Most of the suspects were from Antwerp, with the court focusing on key figures in the operation.
In addition to the sentences, authorities confiscated assets totalling approximately €40 million. Assets included ten houses, a garage, a plot of land, two properties in Spain, and seven vehicles.
The cocaine was shipped from South America to the Port of Antwerp, concealed in containers carrying products such as tuna and cement. It arrived as cocaine paste, which required chemicals for processing into pure cocaine. However, this method generated large amounts of waste. The criminal network disposed of the waste by piling it into containers.
A Dutch lorry driver hired to transport the containers raised concerns with police, leading investigators to intercept the organisation. Authorities later discovered that a container of drugs seized earlier in Colombia had been destined for the same location mentioned by the driver.
The investigation identified several suspects and gained momentum following the decryption of the Sky ECC messaging service. Among the accused was Sani Al-Murdaa, a prominent figure in international drug trafficking, believed to be the ringleader of the operation.
