4,000 cannabis plants seized in Belgium, 14 jailed
French and Belgian investigators seized nearly 4,000 cannabis plants across eight indoor plantations in Belgium's Liège region on 10 June 2014. Fourteen suspects were jailed in France and Belgium over the growing network that supplied the Boulogne-sur-Mer market.
On 10 June 2014, the Lille research section of the French gendarmerie and the
federal judicial police of Liège jointly raided a network of indoor cannabis
plantations in Belgium.[1]Fourteen suspects were jailed over the network,
seven in France and seven in Belgium.[2]The suspects were accused of taking
part in an indoor cannabis production and export network.[1]
Investigators seized nearly 4,000 cannabis plants across eight plantations, all
of them located in Belgium.[2]The indoor growing took place in the Liège
region, and the cannabis was destined for the market of Boulogne-sur-Mer and its
surroundings.[2]The seizure was described as quite exceptional in its number
of plants, with a market value estimated at about 600,000 euros.[2]During the
searches, Belgian investigators also seized weapons, drugs, a wave jammer,
20,000 euros in cash and several vehicles.[1]
A judicial investigation had been opened in July 2013, and Belgian and French
investigators joined forces in March 2014 to track the traffickers.[1]According to the French gendarmes, the network’s two main instigators lived in
Boulogne-sur-Mer and in Belgium.[1]Twenty Minutes’ Lille edition confirmed
the same eight-plantation, 14-jailing account, attributing the approximate
arrest split of seven in France and about fifteen in Belgium to the joint 10
June operation.[3]The Belgian outlet La Libre Belgique also reported the
exceptional seizure and the split of seven jailed in France and seven in
Belgium.[4]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Le Parisien and 20 Minutes report seven arrests in France and about fifteen in Belgium, while every account agrees fourteen people were jailed; the report records the fourteen jailed as arrested.
The plant count is given as nearly 4,000, not an exact laboratory count, and no per-plantation breakdown was published.
The reported weapons, non-cannabis drugs and vehicles were mentioned without quantities and are excluded from cannabis figures; only the separately stated 20,000 euros in cash is recorded.
The French-language accounts largely reproduce the same news-agency dispatch; no separate official agency statement was located.
Early on 7 November 2026 a fire in two adjoining houses on Bergstraat in Tessenderlo-Ham exposed a cannabis plantation in the house where it started. Both houses were declared temporarily uninhabitable, the plantation's size is still being examined, and police report no arrests so far.
Federal police reported that a joint operation at Tournai railway station on 4 November checked more than 700 passengers and led to one judicial arrest. The services seized 122.41 grams of cannabis, five ecstasy pills and an incapacitant spray, and issued seven immediate settlements totalling 725 euros.
Neteland police found 3,470 grams of cannabis plus other drugs in a home in Olen during a search on 1 November. The resident was arrested on suspicion of drug dealing and remanded in custody by the investigating judge.
On 15 October 2026 the Collines police investigation unit dismantled a cannabis grow in Ellezelles, seizing 144 plants, 4.43 kg of flowers, 1.3 kg of residue and a hydraulic press for making resin. The Mons-Tournai prosecutor's office is still investigating. No arrests were named.
