At once capital of Belgium and of the European Union, Brussels has been rocked by a series of shootings linked to drug gangs that are happening mere blocks away from the political center of Europe, leading some to call it ‘cocaine city’.
The Saint-Gilles district is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, bordering the City of Brussels itself. There, cocaine and crack keep flowing in unprecedented quantities. Shootings among rival gangs rage, police seize drugs and arrest traffickers almost daily.
But dealers reportedly keep coming back, and the population is fed up, as drug-related violent crimes are becoming increasingly visible.
Associated Press reported:
“’We’re up against mafia-like organizations’, said Jean Spinette, mayor of the Saint-Gilles district, where one man was killed early Wednesday in the culmination of several days of fighting among drug dealers. […] ‘We’re not talking about a little neighborhood deal, a little side business’, Spinette said. […] He said the problem should be tackled upstream by dismantling networks and urged authorities to prosecute criminals faster to avoid a ‘feeling of impunity’.”
While the situation in Belgium can’t be compared to other drug-infested places in the world, the situation is worsening, and the recent series of incidents have alarmed the whole nation.
“’We should continue to invest in security’, Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden told reporters on Thursday. ‘The events of the last few days show that this is not an unnecessary luxury’.
With Antwerp [port] the main gateway for Latin American cocaine cartels into the continent, gang violence has been rife in the Belgian port city for years. With drug use on the rise across the whole country, federal authorities say trafficking is rapidly penetrating society.”
Nearly every day, the Brussels prosecutors unveil new arrests and large drug and cash seizures.
“The increasing spread of crack cocaine and open dealing and use of drugs in some central neighborhoods over the past year have exacerbated an already bad situation to the point that petty theft, fights and harassment of tourists have become everyday headline news in the nation of 11.5 million.”
In 2023, seven people were killed and 131 injured in the capital in drug-related violence, and the federal police dedicated a quarter of its investigation capacity to drug-related cases.
“Despite gentrification along some tony streets filled with shops, bars and restaurants, large swaths of Saint-Gilles remain poor. Its central location also makes it a convenient location for dealers, and it is often described by residents and officials as a ‘drugs drive-in’.”
Brussels has been left reeling by a spate of drug-related shootings just a few blocks away from the city’s hordes of diplomats and bureaucrats https://t.co/ZmWjlxwx97
— Bloomberg Markets (@markets) February 15, 2024
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