Six businesses were sealed on Monday night in Ixelles due to illegal employment or poor hygiene, the Brussels Capital/Ixelles police announced in a press release on Tuesday.
In total, the police seized 49.5 kilograms of illegal tobacco products and reported several offences relating to undeclared work, violations of police regulations, misleading advertising and violations of the smoking ban.
The main purpose of the large-scale night-time operation was to carry out thorough checks on various commercial premises. This was done in collaboration with the Labour Audit Office, the Federal Public Services Finance, Economy and Public Health, and Brulabo, the Brussels laboratory specialising in hygiene inspection and laboratory analysis.
The social inspection services of the National Social Security Office (RSZ), the National Institute for Social Insurance for the Self-Employed (RSVZ) and IBR, the Institute of Company Auditors, also took part in the night-time inspection operation.
The inspection led to some "substantial results", according to the local police. "A total of four cases were sealed by the courts on the orders of the Labour Inspectorate. Two more businesses were administratively sealed by Brulabo for hygiene reasons," said the police zone's communications unit.
The police drew up a total of nine reports for violations of police regulations. Nine reports were also drawn up for illegal residence in Belgium.
In addition, all partners jointly drew up reports for, among other things, undeclared work, a lack of the necessary documents, violation of the smoking ban and misleading advertising.
