The trial of 45 suspects linked to a criminal organisation operating from the notorious Peterbos housing estate in Anderlecht begins on Monday before the Brussels criminal court, with alleged leader Imad B., known as ‘Mara,’ among those in the dock.
Prosecutors say the group was involved in large-scale drug trafficking and had links extending to Marseille in southern France and Panama. The organisation is also suspected of involvement in several shootings in Brussels.
The Peterbos estate, a social housing complex in Anderlecht, has long been associated with nuisance and crime linked to the drug trade. In recent years, gangs from Marseille are said to have gained influence there and tried to expand their territory, including through violence.
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In December 2022, 30 people were sentenced in an earlier case over a well-organised drug network based in the estate’s housing blocks. Sentences ranged from 225 hours of community service to eight years in prison.
That was already the second trial linked to drug trafficking in the neighbourhood, but Peterbos remained a hotspot afterwards. Repeated clashes broke out between the group operating from the estate and rival gangs, while a series of shootings in Brussels left several people dead.
According to the investigation, the Peterbos organisation was led by Imad B. He was sentenced in December 2022 to eight years in prison for cocaine and cannabis trafficking, but prosecutors say he continued to run the network from his cell, including by using a smartphone.
Investigators say he maintained contacts with drug traffickers in Marseille and with associates in Panama, who allegedly handled the purchase and shipment of cocaine to Europe.
In this case, ‘Mara’ is being prosecuted not only for leading a criminal organisation and drug trafficking, but also for allegedly ordering six attempted murders from prison. Prosecutors say those orders were linked to six shootings in the second half of 2023.
The first took place during the night of 25 to 26 July and allegedly targeted a man identified as Yassine S. In Signal messages recovered later, ‘Mara’ is said to have expressed regret that the victim had survived.
On 29 August, three people allegedly fired around six shots near Clémenceau metro station. On 11 September, a building in Doverstraat in Anderlecht came under fire in what prosecutors believe was an attack aimed at a leading figure in the rival Aumale gang, although the gunmen are said to have gone to the wrong address.
A few weeks later, a bouncer at the Le Blu nightclub in Anderlecht was threatened with a weapon of war on two consecutive nights, first from 3 to 4 November and again from 4 to 5 November.
Prosecutors also hold ‘Mara’ responsible for a shooting on 19 December 2023, when a shop on Bergensesteenweg was targeted. The shop is believed to have been a sales point for the Aumale gang.
In June 2024, Brussels investigators carried out 25 house searches in the case, leading to the arrest of 19 suspects, including 17 in Belgium and two in Marseille. The investigation then continued in the following months.
In March 2025, a judicial mission was carried out in Panama, where investigators identified three of ‘Mara’s’ local associates. They were eventually arrested in December 2025, while six more suspects had already been detained in Brussels in November that year.
Imad B. has also been named as a suspect in a separate but related case involving a fatal shooting in Anderlecht’s Wayezstraat on 14 September 2023. That night, a white Peugeot 3008 forced a VW Golf to stop, after which several people got out of the Peugeot and opened fire on the 31-year-old driver.
The victim did not survive, but investigators believe he was killed by mistake. Prosecutors say Imad B. ordered the killing of the leader of a rival drugs gang from his prison cell, but the shooters targeted the wrong man.
On 26 May, the Brussels federal judicial police arrested another 27 suspects in a new investigation into drug trafficking in and around the Peterbos estate and Saint-Guidon metro station in Anderlecht. That operation mainly targeted the lower ranks of a large criminal network importing and selling drugs on a major scale, but prosecutors also link those suspects to the organisation centred on Imad B.
