Brussels moves to tackle rising drug violence
BRUSSELS, Belgium: Brussels authorities on Tuesday outlined plans to tackle an “unacceptable” spike in drug crime across the city, which has been shaken by a string of trafficking-linked shootings in recent weeks.
Belgium’s Antwerp port – the main gateway for cocaine into Europe – is regularly rocked by gang violence linked to the illicit trade, but the capital had been largely spared until now.
But half a dozen apparently drug-related shootings this month – one of them fatal – coupled with an increasingly visible crack cocaine use problem on the streets of Brussels have raised fears that may be changing.
Under pressure to act, Brussels authorities on Tuesday outlined their strategy for tackling what senior security official Sophie Lavaux called “unacceptable violence” encroaching on the city.
“Our goal is very clear: to break this cycle of violence and bring calm to the neighbourhoods involved,” Lavaux, the director of Safe Brussels, which coordinates security for the capital region, told a news conference. Working together with Belgian federal authorities – which are responsible for fighting organised crime – a series of local taskforces will be set up to tackle “hotspots” across the city.
They will have a triple focus: boosting police presence on the streets by surging resources to key areas, stepping up risk prevention with drug users and vulnerable populations such as unaccompanied young migrants, and community outreach.
“Faced with the explosion of violence in recent weeks, we have no choice but to put all of our resources into this,” said Lavaux.
The measures were announced following a crisis meeting convened by regional president Rudi Vervoort and involving city police chiefs and the state prosecutor – who were facing urgent calls to act by local resident groups.
Vervoort said a major antidrug operation conducted last year had decapitated a number of kingpins – but that “others sprung up to take their place.”
“Belgium is no narco state,” said Vervoort, “but these are groups operating on a global scale.”