Dutch suspect held in Belgian minister kidnapping plot will be extradited

A 22-year-old man suspected of involvement in a plot to kidnap the Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne can be extradited from the Netherlands to Belgium, the special international legal aid court in Amsterdam ruled on Thursday. The suspect is one of a group of five Dutch people accused of being involved in the plot.

The man in question was arrested in December, following a request for assistance filed by authorities in Belgium. Four Dutch people were arrested in The Hague and Leidschendam earlier in September. They have since been handed over to Belgium.

According to the police, the kidnapping was thwarted just in time. The suspects were said to have left a car outside the minister's house in Kortrijk. Inside the car, authorities found an automatic rifle and bottles of petrol, as well as other items suggesting evidence of the kidnapping plot.

Van Quickenborne then went into hiding and was kept under heavy guard for an extended period. He alluded to the perpetrators as being part of an organized drugs gang.