Brussels police dismantle drug lab in Anderlecht

About three weeks ago, Brussels local police dismantled a drug lab in a flat in Anderlecht where procaine was used to cut cocaine. According to the Brussels public prosecutor's office, this is the first dismantled drug lab in Belgium using procaine, an anaesthetic often used in dental procedures. The Brussels police also achieved notable breakthroughs in other drug cases.

When the drug lab was raided on 22 September, police arrested two suspects and confiscated 100 kg of procaine. The two suspects were placed under arrest warrant, as was a third suspect who was apprehended shortly afterwards.

Two days earlier, on 20 September, the Brussels police's anti-robbery brigade was able to seize nearly 50 kg of cocaine, with a street value of about 1.8 million euros. This happened in the centre of Brussels where a patrol witnessed suspicious actions and a traffic violation. Two suspects were caught with a large sports bag that contained 45 packs of cocaine of 1.1 kg each. Those two suspects were also placed under arrest warrant.

Last Wednesday, 2 October, the Drugs section carried out 12 house searches in an investigation into the sale of cocaine and cannabis throughout the Brussels-Capital Region. That investigation had started in late 2023 after the arrest of a cocaine dealer, and on 2 October five suspects were arrested, two of whom were placed under arrest warrant. Police also confiscated 52,000 euros, two Rolex watches, 300 grams of marijuana, 50 grams of cocaine and four vehicles.

The same day, 2 October, five more house searches took place in an investigation into the import of cannabis from Thailand. Police found more than 26 kg of cannabis on a pallet on which boxes of latex gloves were stacked, and arrested two suspects, who were released under conditions.

^{Drugs pictured during the opening of a forensic drug expertise center by the National Institute of Criminalistics and Criminology, 23 April 2024 in Brussels © BELGA PHOTO ERIC LALMAND}