Five suspects have been arrested by the federal judicial police of Halle-Vilvoorde in connection with drug smuggling through Brussels Airport. The arrests were made after two baggage handlers, who were part of a drug gang, were caught red-handed taking suitcases filled with cocaine from an arriving aeroplane.

Brussels Airport employees were involved in a criminal organisation smuggling drugs from Banjul, Gambia. They would hide drugs in several suitcases among the luggage on flights from Banjul, and their role was to remove these suitcases from the plane and hand them over to other gang members outside the airport.

During a recent flight from Banjul, the police monitored the employees, even though they were not scheduled to work. The two suspects took several suitcases from the plane and were intercepted by the police when one of them left the airport with the drugs. The authorities successfully seized three suitcases containing a total of approximately 120 kilogrammes of cocaine, with an estimated street value of six million euros.

The subsequent house searches led to the discovery of significant amounts of cash, and all five suspects, four of whom have Belgian nationality and one with Surinamese nationality, were presented before the investigating judge and placed under arrest warrants. The authorities highlight that this operation is part of a broader effort to combat airport crime, with a focus on cooperation between security services and the airport operator in tackling this form of criminal activity at Brussels Airport.