One night in August 2020, a fire broke out in the kitchen. Police officers dispatched to the first floor of a small building in Brussels that evening quickly determined that no injuries were reported. You’ll also notice that this apartment, rented on behalf of a Colombian citizen, is surprisingly spartan. To be honest, it’s more like the back room of a pharmacy: in the kitchen, three microwave ovens remained intact despite the fire; There were tanks of solvents on the ground where the fire started. The four survivors taking refuge upstairs don’t seem relieved to have escaped the worst. While observing one of them, officers noticed another detail: his fingers were covered in a sticky white powder. This man of Albanian origin is not a pastry chef. In this secret laboratory, he turned liquid cocaine into powder form, ready for sale.

The two couples who live at this address alone are the link between the South American coca plantations and the European market, where Albanian criminal groups now hold a prominent position. It is written in black and white in a report from the Belgian Federal Police: “We can claim that MGE and CVM intentionally married Colombian women to strengthen their position in the drug trade and thus become associated with the cocaine-producing country of Colombia.” »

The accidental identification of this “laboratory” that contained 12 kg of cocaine “extremely pure” were seized, marking the beginning of a wide-ranging investigation that lasted more than two years. A file with drawers that leads Belgian police officers on the trail of drug traffickers who have direct connections to Latin America, but also operate in Morocco, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, France and Sweden. Around the Albanian-Colombian “hard core”, led by the 50-year-old MGE, the case grew from month to month and led to a high-profile trial in Brussels on Monday, December 18th.

One hundred and twenty-five defendants of fifteen different nationalities are summoned in a setting appropriate to the case: the Justice Bunker Court, set up in the former NATO headquarters, made entirely of reinforced concrete, on the outskirts of the Belgian capital. It was necessary to accommodate such an occupation. According to a police source “The investigation made it possible to identify “high value targets”, but also henchmen, logisticians, people recovering a cargo, others who use their services at a certain time, and still others who suggest a killer or a gang, who is responsible for intimidating someone.”. “Indoor” cannabis producers, landlords and nominees are also on the list, not forgetting the owner of a chip shop, an influencer and even a police officer suspected of corruption.

You still have 75% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.