Antwerp (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Former Antwerp lawyer Pol Vandemeulebroucke was arrested for the second time. This time, he is suspected of involvement in drug smuggling. In an operation that began last week and continued yesterday, nine people were arrested all together in connection with cocaine smuggling from South America.
A former well-known Antwerp lawyer, Pol Vandemeulebroucke, was arrested as a result of an investigation by a big drug trafficking group. The first source of this report was the newspaper De Standaard later, it was confirmed that multiple sources reported the arrests. Nine people were detained during police raids across Belgium.
In Mortsel, Antwerp, Heist-op-den-Berg, and Vilvoorde, federal police carried out several raids last week and this week. Nine have been arrested. Three remain in custody, while the rest of the suspects, ”among” them, Vandemeulebroucke will appear before an investigating judge.
Vandemeulebroucke is accused of assisting in the importation of large quantities of cocaine coming from South America. Arrested after a very colourful legal history, last year Vandemeulebroucke was acquitted on appeal of charges of being a member of a drug gang on the grounds that the evidence used against him was not properly processed.
But, in early 2022, he was found guilty of being part of an Albanian drug trafficking group and sentenced to one year in prison. After this case, he quit working as a lawyer. The investigation is still ongoing, and the federal prosecutor’s office has not released any further details at this stage.
Background of the Case
Pol Vandemeulebroucke is arrested in a general operation against the drug trafficking networks in Belgium. The federal judicial police have been working to dismantle organised crime groups this has led to several very high-profile arrests, where raids have been conducted at several locations, including Mortsel, Antwerp, and Heist-op-den-Berg. The cases featuring Vandemeulebroucke prove that the participation of people who have backgrounds with the law and professionalism is increasing.
His past as a lawyer gives a whole new dimension to the story. He had been involved in cases that were raising public concern about the interface of law and crime. In 2022, he was convicted for his role in an Albanian drug gang, which led to his disbarment and ended his legal practice.
Pol acquittal in 2023 when charges dropped because the evidence gathered in the first trial had not been collected properly indicates that corruption and organised crime persist within Belgium. The new round of operations is actually the response to those complex crime networks that his arrest was one of several stark reminders about law enforcement problems in relation to drug trafficking.
