Seven Dutch arrested in Belgian drug bust
Belgian authorities arrested seven Dutch nationals and three Belgians after seizing 1,200 kilograms of cocaine in the port of Antwerp overnight Saturday into Sunday, prosecutors said.
The shipment had arrived aboard the Grande Africa, a vessel that sailed via an unspecified African country before docking in Antwerp. The drugs were unloaded and transported to a warehouse in the region of Zelzate, near the Dutch border in Zeeland. Police tracked the cargo and arrested the suspects at the site, according to Belgian media.
The youngest suspect is a 14-year-old Belgian, justice officials confirmed. All ten are expected to appear before an investigating judge, while the minor will face a juvenile judge.
The arrests followed a joint investigation by Antwerp police, the shipping police, and the Federal Police’s special intervention unit (DSU). Authorities said the case is part of an ongoing probe into a criminal organization suspected of smuggling drugs through the Antwerp port.
The port has become a focal point for so-called “extractors,” often minors recruited by organized crime groups to retrieve drugs from containers. In the first five months of this year alone, police in Antwerp detained 140 extractors, half of them Dutch, including 20 minors.
Authorities say minors are frequently used for such operations because they are cheap to hire. However, for adults caught in Belgium, sentences are severe, averaging about 40 months in prison.
