The Minister for the Interior, Jan Jambon, was positive on the expatriate radio station, BRUZZ, when presenting the results of the Plan Canal.
He said, “We have identified 57 individuals who are a threat to the state and struck 600 names from related registers.”
He went on, “We will soon be stepping up our efforts, with more police and five new communes.”
This plan, which aims to fight radicalism, violent extremism and terrorism within the Canal zone in Brussels, was launched six months ago and will now be extended.
Owing to the Plan Canal, the police and intelligence services have succeeded in identifying 57 individuals who are a threat to the state in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean.
These individuals are being very closed monitored through the OCAM (the Organisation for Threat Analysis Coordination).
This group of 57 individuals is mainly made up of fighters returning from Syria, and 27 who were radicalised, who are thought to be on the cusp of leaving.
The police also undertook more than 5,000 searches, as part of the Plan Canal. These have led, as indicated above, to 600 names being struck from related registers.
The Plan also allows scope for scrutinising third sector organisations, mosques and other organisations.
The Brussels Times
