A criminal court in Antwerp has sentenced Younes E.B. to an eight-year prison sentence for importing cocaine via the Flemish city's port. The ruling comes in the same week that his 11-year-old niece died as a result of drug-related violence.
Along with his jail term, he was ordered to pay a €32,000 fine for his crime. A record 100 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the Port of Antwerp last year and violent incidents carried out by drug gangs have surged.
Younes E.B.'s accomplice Zouhair L. and the Zouhair's partner Mara D.S., who worked for a company in the port and provided the criminals with important logistical information, were also charged.
Zouhair L. was sentenced to six years in prison and a €20,000 fine; Mara S. received a three-year suspended sentence and a €8,000 fine.
