21 arrested as airport baggage-hall drug ring is dismantled
Belgian, French and Dutch police arrested 21 suspects in a Eurojust-coordinated action after an 18-month probe that began with 30 kg of cocaine abandoned at Brussels Airport. Couriers flew in drugs while recruits on cheap tickets collected bags off the belts; cash, cars and guns were seized.
🇧🇪 Brussels Airport · Belgium
- Arrested
- 21
After sports bags holding 30 kilogrammes of cocaine were left behind at Brussels Airport in February 2025, investigators traced the passenger and uncovered the network behind the cocaine trafficked into Belgium.[1][2] Couriers flew in from Africa or the Americas with narcotics luggage, while recruits hired over social media bought cheap last-minute tickets to enter the baggage halls, collect the bags and hand them to network couriers at agreed spots.[1][2]
During the investigation Belgian police arrested two suspects caught with 55 kilogrammes of cocaine and 30 kilogrammes of cannabis, and traced the network’s links to France and the Netherlands, where members travelled between the three countries.[1][2] A joint investigation team at Eurojust coordinated the next steps, the financial trails and the suspect identifications.[1][2]
On 30 September 2026, a joint action day across Belgium, France and the Netherlands arrested 21 suspects and carried out 27 searches, seizing more than €57,000 in cash, crypto wallets, eight vehicles and two firearms; analysis of the seized evidence continues.[1][2]
Sources
- Drug traffickers using commercial flights halted by international coalition. Eurojust, 2 October 2026.
- Drug traffickers using commercial flights halted by international coalition | Eurojust. Europe Says, 2 October 2026.