8 held as 500 kg of Canadian cannabis seized in Brussels
Brussels federal judicial police seized more than 500 kg of cannabis hidden in two Canada-origin pallets declared as clothing, arresting eight people on 27 August 2026. Four were remanded under arrest warrant, with vehicles, a jammer and phones also seized as the inquiry into the import network continues.
Investigators of the Drugs section of the Brussels Federal Judicial Police, the
PJF, Belgium’s federal detective branch, followed the cargo until it was
collected by its intended recipients.[1]Police intervened on the evening of
27 August 2026 and arrested eight people as the recipients recovered the
shipment.[1]Four of those arrested were subsequently placed under arrest
warrant, the Belgian pre-trial detention order.[1]
Officers seized more than 500 kilos of cannabis concealed in two pallets sent
from Canada.[1]The two pallets had arrived by plane in Belgium on 24 August
2026 with paperwork declaring clothing.[1]Customs checks of the pallets
uncovered more than half a tonne of cannabis.[1]The Drugs section of the
Brussels PJF then took over the file from customs to pursue the recipients.[1]
Alongside the cannabis, officers seized four vehicles, a signal jammer used to
block communications and several mobile phones.[1]Investigators said
exploitation of the seized phones should help identify the different people
involved in the import and determine their respective roles.[1]The
investigation is continuing to identify any other suspects and to establish the
full extent of the criminal organisation involved.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
8
Charged
4
Cannabis
500 kg
Agency type
Customs, Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (500 kg)
Case stage
Under investigation
Route
Canada → Belgium
Sources
DHnetdhnet.beFRCoup de filet à Bruxelles : 500 kilos de cannabis saisis après une livraison depuis le Canada
Open questions the AI reported
No exact laboratory weight was published, only more than 500 kilos, so 500 kg is recorded as the stated lower bound.
The year 2026 for the 24 and 27 August dates is inferred from the 9 September 2026 publication; no separate year is stated with those dates.
No names, ages, nationalities or roles of the eight arrested people were published.
No street-level seizure location in Brussels was published, so Brussels is used as the most precise place.
No court outcome beyond the four arrest warrants was reported; the investigation was described as continuing.
Only one accessible source for this event could be opened after searching; no second account was found.
A prisoner at Marneffe returned from temporary leave with 7 grams of cannabis he had obtained while away. Prison guards quickly found it during a search, and the prisoner said he needed it to sleep.
Police in the Bruxelles-Ouest zone seized 13.53 kg of cannabis and 8,670 euros in cash from an apartment in Jette after stopping a scooter rider on avenue de l'Exposition, and detained two suspects handed to the Brussels prosecutor's office.
Operation ATLAS NEXUS, led by Belgium's Federal Police and co-coordinated by Frontex, EMPACT and CARICOM IMPACS across 34 countries, ended with more than 490 arrests and the seizure of 118.6 tonnes of cannabis among 156.9 tonnes of drugs. National operations included a record 104.96 tonnes of cannabis in Paraguay and 3.2 tonnes in Costa Rica.
Belgian customs seized 10.7 tonnes of cannabis at the Port of Antwerp in the first half of 2026 across 13 marijuana interceptions. Most of the marijuana came from Canada, which customs chief Kristian Vanderwaeren linked to overproduction under Canada's domestic legal market, while seized hashish came mainly from Morocco.
