Belgium began one of the biggest drug trafficking trials in history on Monday, with more than 120 defendants remaining in court, thanks in no small part to investigators who cracked an encrypted messaging app.
Suspects from Belgium, Albania, Colombia and North Africa accused of involvement in a large-scale criminal operation sought justice during a hearing in a high-security courtroom at the former headquarters of the military alliance NATO in Brussels. receive judgment.
The alleged multinational drug smuggling enterprise, which operated from 2017 until the end of 2022, involved numerous criminal organizations and was dismantled following raids by Belgian, German and Italian police.
Prosecutors said the cocaine and marijuana were shipped in containers from South America and Morocco, smuggled through ports in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and France, and then sold across Europe.
The case is based in part on evidence discovered after Belgian, French and Dutch investigators cracked encrypted Sky ECC and Encrochat apps commonly used by criminals.
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Police say that by infiltrating the app, they were able to peer into the unprotected planning and operations of drug smuggling operations.
Belgium’s Justice Minister Paul Van Tigchelt said 1,000 convictions had already been secured in cases stemming from evidence from encrypted apps.
Belgium has a huge port called Antwerp, which is the main gateway for cocaine smuggling into Europe.
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“It’s clear that this is a very severe blow to organized crime in our country,” Van Tigchelt said ahead of the trial.
The suspects in the mammoth trial, which begins Monday, face numerous charges, including drug offenses, arms trafficking and membership in a criminal organization.
A total of 124 people are on trial, but some remain at large and will be tried in absentia.
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However, the majority are detained in Belgium.
The alleged mastermind of this enterprise was Albanian.
Prosecutors claim there was a “structure and hierarchy” between the various criminal groups involved and that illicit commercial links were evident.
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The suspects are accused, among other things, of co-operating a cocaine processing laboratory that was discovered on Belgian soil.
The trial is expected to last several months, and a verdict is not expected until mid-2024.
But defense lawyers complained that the massive case should have been split and the suspects tried separately.
Guillaume Lys, a lawyer for one of the defendants, said authorities were “trying to emulate the heinous trials of the Italian mafia. This is a kind of publicity stunt.”
Mad/Dell/Aku