BRUSSELS AIRPORT WORKERS JAILED FOR TRAFFICKING DRUGS FROM GAMBIA

A Brussels airport worker was among five men sentenced by the Brussels Correctional Court yesterday for trafficking drugs including from The Gambia. According to The Brussels Times newspaper, the investigators seized 123kg of cocaine, with a street value of €6 million, as well as large sums of cash from the accused.

In 2023, the authorities launched the inquiry after a video surfaced showing a Brussels Airport employee offering to facilitate the removal of goods from the airport.

Police identified the employee in the footage and closely monitored his movements. They observed him regularly present on the tarmac during the arrival of flights from The Gambia.

The suspect would oversee luggage unloading and personally escort baggage transport vehicles to a camera-free garage.

Through surveillance, investigators uncovered seven instances of drug smuggling between April and July 2023. In each case, the baggage vehicles were driven by the same second suspect, also employed at the airport.

The primary suspect was also tracked delivering three suitcases to three different individuals in Sterrebeek, in the northeast suburb of the Brussels. On the day of their arrests, police discovered 43k of cocaine in one suitcase and 80kg in another.

The first suspect’s lawyer argued that his client initially refused offers from criminals seeking his help for extra earnings but eventually complied under threats to his family.

Defence lawyers for the other suspects also cited coercion, linking the case to a broader wave of shootings and bomb attacks in Brussels and Antwerp, claiming their clients feared for their lives if they did not cooperate with criminal groups.

The court was not persuaded and sentenced all five defendants to four years of imprisonment without parole.

Source: The Standard