Ten arrested as Limburg police find 1,300 cannabis plants at Wellen and Houthalen
Police in the Belgian provinces of Limburg and Flemish Brabant searched eighteen locations and found active cannabis plantations in Wellen and Houthalen holding 1,300 plants. They arrested ten people, placed nine under arrest warrant and seized 300,000 euros in cash and eleven kilograms of cannabis.
Police arrested ten people in the morning in a large operation in the provinces
of Limburg and Flemish Brabant.[1]Officers searched eighteen locations in the
operation.[1]They found two active cannabis plantations, in Wellen and
Houthalen, with 1,300 plants between them.[1]Police also seized300,000 euros
in cash and eleven kilograms of cannabis.[1]
The arrests were of eight men and two women from Hasselt, Alken, Herk-de-Stad
and Wellen.[1]Nine of the ten were placed under arrest warrant, meaning an
investigating judge ordered them held.[1]The local police force LRH, which
covers the Limburg regional capital Hasselt, said at a press conference on
Thursday that this was its largest operation, on the Tuesday before the
article’s 24 September publication.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Arrested
10
Plants destroyed
1,300
Cannabis
11 kg
Sites
18
Cash confiscated
EUR 300,000
Agency
Limburg Regio Hoofdstad local police (LRH)
Agency type
Police
Cannabis
Herbal cannabis (11 kg); Living plants (1,300 plants)
Activity
Cultivation, Trafficking
Setting
Home
Case stage
Under investigation
Region
Limburg
Sources
Le Soirlesoir.beFRDix arrestations, 300.000 euros en cash saisis… une vaste opération de police menée contre le trafic de drogue
Open questions the AI reported
The article says the operation took place on a Tuesday and was published on Thursday 24 September 2026; 22 September 2026 is the Tuesday before publication, but the article gives no explicit date.
No charges, court steps or identities beyond the arrestees' home towns were reported.
The 300,000 euros is described only as cash seized, with no statement that it was proceeds of cannabis sales.
The article also reports 1.5 kilograms of cocaine, which is outside cannabis figures and not counted here.
Only one account, carried by Belga, could be opened; no police statement or second outlet confirmed the details.
The 1,300 plants are given as one total for both plantations, without a split between Wellen and Houthalen.
The cannabis is reported only as eleven kilograms, without separating dried flower from plants.
The article does not say whether the plantations were indoors or outdoors, so no growing environment is recorded.
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.
