Belgium has resorted for the first time to its Armed Forces to support a large police operation against crime and drug trafficking in Brussels, amidst a surge in armed violence linked to drug trafficking. The Minister of Defense, Theo Francken, announced this past Friday that military personnel, Federal Police, and the six police zones of the capital will act together to strengthen security in streets, stations, and other areas considered problematic.

“We cannot continue to leave our streets and stations in the hands of drug traffickers and criminals,” Francken stated, accusing the authorities of having “looked the other way for too long” regarding Brussels’ specific security issues.

The deployment comes after a new wave of shootings in neighborhoods such as Anderlecht, Saint-Gilles, and Molenbeek. The King’s Prosecutor of Brussels, Julien Moinil, raised the number of shootings related to drug trafficking recorded in the region during 2026 to 69, seven of them in the last week. Since the beginning of 2025, around 170 such incidents have occurred, along with about twenty explosions.

The violence is also reaching the very institutions tasked with combating it. One of the most serious incidents in recent days was the attack with automatic weapons on a police station in Anderlecht. Although there were no injuries, the prosecutor described it as a direct attack on the State. Moinil also warned that the leaders of criminal organizations continue to direct their networks from abroad and even from prisons, and calls for more investigators and international cooperation.

The problem has a much larger dimension than the street violence in Brussels. Belgian intelligence considers drug trafficking to be currently the main threat of organized crime in the country and warns that the violence and corruption associated with the business are becoming increasingly visible. It also notes an increase in threats against police officers, magistrates, and officials.

A problem that extends across Belgium

The origin of much of this criminal pressure lies in Belgium’s position within the European cocaine routes. The port of Antwerp is one of the main entry points for cocaine in Europe and constitutes a priority target for international criminal organizations. In 2024 alone, the Federal Police opened 91 investigations related to international cocaine trafficking through the port, and there were 128 arrests linked to drug trafficking in the port area.

 

 

 

The phenomenon is not limited to Antwerp. The Belgian Federal Police itself had already warned that mafias linked to drug trafficking had extended their activities to Brussels, Limburg, Liège, Charleroi, and other areas of the country.

This does not mean that all these cities are experiencing a wave of shootings comparable to Brussels. Brussels is currently the main focus of armed violence linked to disputes between drug trafficking organizations, while Antwerp concentrates much of the logistical infrastructure that allows cocaine to enter Europe. Liège, Charleroi, and other cities appear, however, as points of activity, distribution, and settlement of criminal networks operating on a national and international scale.

The explanation lies in the combination of several factors: the importance of Belgian ports, excellent land connections with France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg, the enormous profitability of cocaine, and the ability of criminal organizations to operate simultaneously in different territories. 

Thus, the crisis in Brussels is the most visible manifestation of a much broader security problem: a country turned into a key piece of the European drug trafficking networks where the violence associated with the business is beginning to directly affect public spaces, police, judges, and authorities.

Belgium has resorted for the first time to its Armed Forces to support a large police operation against crime and drug trafficking in Brussels, amidst a surge in armed violence linked to drug trafficking. The Minister of Defense, Theo Francken, announced this past Friday that military personnel, Federal Police, and the six police zones of the capital will act together to strengthen security in streets, stations, and other areas considered problematic.

“We cannot continue to leave our streets and stations in the hands of drug traffickers and criminals,” Francken stated, accusing the authorities of having “looked the other way for too long” regarding Brussels’ specific security issues.

The deployment comes after a new wave of shootings in neighborhoods such as Anderlecht, Saint-Gilles, and Molenbeek. The King’s Prosecutor of Brussels, Julien Moinil, raised the number of shootings related to drug trafficking recorded in the region during 2026 to 69, seven of them in the last week. Since the beginning of 2025, around 170 such incidents have occurred, along with about twenty explosions.

The violence is also reaching the very institutions tasked with combating it. One of the most serious incidents in recent days was the attack with automatic weapons on a police station in Anderlecht. Although there were no injuries, the prosecutor described it as a direct attack on the State. Moinil also warned that the leaders of criminal organizations continue to direct their networks from abroad and even from prisons, and calls for more investigators and international cooperation.

The problem has a much larger dimension than the street violence in Brussels. Belgian intelligence considers drug trafficking to be currently the main threat of organized crime in the country and warns that the violence and corruption associated with the business are becoming increasingly visible. It also notes an increase in threats against police officers, magistrates, and officials.

A problem that extends across Belgium

The origin of much of this criminal pressure lies in Belgium’s position within the European cocaine routes. The port of Antwerp is one of the main entry points for cocaine in Europe and constitutes a priority target for international criminal organizations. In 2024 alone, the Federal Police opened 91 investigations related to international cocaine trafficking through the port, and there were 128 arrests linked to drug trafficking in the port area.

 

 

 

The phenomenon is not limited to Antwerp. The Belgian Federal Police itself had already warned that mafias linked to drug trafficking had extended their activities to Brussels, Limburg, Liège, Charleroi, and other areas of the country.

This does not mean that all these cities are experiencing a wave of shootings comparable to Brussels. Brussels is currently the main focus of armed violence linked to disputes between drug trafficking organizations, while Antwerp concentrates much of the logistical infrastructure that allows cocaine to enter Europe. Liège, Charleroi, and other cities appear, however, as points of activity, distribution, and settlement of criminal networks operating on a national and international scale.

The explanation lies in the combination of several factors: the importance of Belgian ports, excellent land connections with France, the Netherlands, Germany, and Luxembourg, the enormous profitability of cocaine, and the ability of criminal organizations to operate simultaneously in different territories. 

Thus, the crisis in Brussels is the most visible manifestation of a much broader security problem: a country turned into a key piece of the European drug trafficking networks where the violence associated with the business is beginning to directly affect public spaces, police, judges, and authorities.