Belgium: Over 100 Convicted in Drug Gang Crackdown

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Facts

  • 119 people were sentenced by a Belgian court to between 14 months and 17 years in prison following a 'massive drug trafficking trial in Brussels,' according to the federal police.[1]
  • In what's become the country's largest-ever drug bust, the defendants from Belgium, Albania, Colombia, and North African nations were found guilty of trafficking cocaine and cannabis, often through the use of encrypted messaging apps.[2]
  • The strictest sentences went to the drug trafficking leaders, including 14 years for Eridan Munoz-Guerrero of Albania, and 17 years for Algerian national Abdelwahab Guerni. They both also had millions of euros of property seized by authorities.[3][1]
  • According to prosecutors, the drugs were transported by multiple gangs — who used the messaging apps Sky ECC and EncroChat — in containers from South America and Morocco to ports in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France.[4]
  • The lower-ranking gang members received lighter sentences, with one police officer also receiving a partially suspended five-year sentence for providing police database information to the gangs. Nine defendants were acquitted.[3]
  • This comes three months after 50 arrests were made across eight countries in connection with cocaine shipments from Latin America to Europe. Some defense lawyers called the latest operation a 'publicity stunt,' arguing that the defendants were 'artificially' lumped together to create a spectacle.[2]

Sources: [1]Reuters, [2]CBS, [3]Brusselstimes and [4]Voice of Alexandria.

Narratives

  • Narrative A, as provided by Wsj. These convictions are a breath of fresh air for Europe, a continent that has seen its safest cities destroyed by drug gangs for years. Besides flooding European streets with dangerous drugs, some of these gangs have committed murder —targeting witnesses, journalists, and lawyers. Governments must continue their crackdown on gangs and implement stricter drug policies to end this transnational organized crime wave.
  • Narrative B, as provided by Forbes. While no one wants drug dealers and murderers to go free, the means with which European authorities are combatting these crimes risk violating human rights. With crime fighting as their trojan horse, governments will likely broaden their scope to include spying on political speech. The EU has gone as far as to propose a 'Chat Control' law, which would allow them to spy on other apps like Signal and WhatsApp. Safety should not come at the cost of freedom of speech.