Brussels (Brussels Morning) – A police operation dismantled a violent drug gang in Anderlecht’s Peterbos neighbourhood, improving Brussels’ security. Linked to Marseille, the gang aimed to control the Brussels drug market through violence. Nineteen arrests, including key leaders, were made. This is a significant blow to the gang but not the end, as drug violence persists.
The seizure of a violent drug gang in Anderlecht’s Peterbos neighbourhood, which was attached to several shootings in Brussels, is “going to make a difference to security in Brussels,” stated National Drugs Commissioner Ine Van Wymersch.
What led to police action in Peterbos?
A large Brussels police procedure in the Peterbos neighbourhood on Tuesday smashed a criminal organisation linked to Marseille that desired to take over the Brussels drugs market with brute force, from shootings and abductions to violence, intimidation and attempted murders.
“The organisation acted like a large multinational that, at the same time, was also well-anchored locally,” Van Wymersch stated, adding that the local leaders worked and lived in the Peterbos neighbourhood. “They did intend to control the whole drug market in Brussels from there with brute force.”
How many arrests were made in the operation?
As of Wednesday, 19 people have been captured, and some of them are already imprisoned. “It is a heavy blow for the gang. There has been very hard work to arrest the superstructure and the leaders. If you arrest one dealer, another immediately takes their place. If you remove people in key positions, the whole system collapses.” Van Wymersch added that some of the individuals who were arrested would be very challenging for the criminal gang to replace. “The higher you get in such organisations, the more unique the position.”
What challenges remain for Brussels’ police?
Still, she highlighted that the police work is far from over. “This is the start of new analyses, to go even higher up and even wider in scope.” With any luck, the management could right up to the real top of the gang, but they would be in Dubai, according to Van Wymersch. Brussels has been troubled by drug-related violence for months, but Van Wymersch acknowledges that breaking the Peterbos organisation will make a significant difference to security in Brussels. But this alone will not crack all the issues in one fell swoop.
This was confirmed last night when two people were killed and three more were wounded in a drug-related shooting in Saint-Gilles in a post on Rue Argonne, located right next to Brussels Midi station.
The perpetrators allegedly shot with Kalashnikovs at people out on the terrace. While it appears like the victims were random patrons at the bar there are indications that the shooters were paying a score within the drug world and the targets were the Albanian proprietors of the bar.
“We have to be watchful for an escalation of violence from other units that want to take the place of the gang that has now been busted,” Van Wymersch stated. “The best thing would be to have real choices in the neighbourhoods. This is about society building, such as accommodation quality, cleanliness, mobility and prospects.”
