The judge in Antwerp has started an investigation into the possible leaking of police information by a Belgian chief inspector of police. This is reported by the Gazet van Antwerpen newspaper. The detective was involved in a number of successful investigations against Moroccan drug groups.
Leaked
The Chief Inspector works at the Drugs Department of the Federal Judicial Police. He is suspected of ‘leaking police information to the criminal environment’. This writes the Gazet van Antwerp newspaper on Tuesday afternoon.
The house of the suspected police officer was searched. He has since been brought before the examining magistrate, but has since been released under certain conditions.
Scare
The arrest caused quite a stir among the police. The policeman, of Moroccan origin, was highly regarded by colleagues, according to the Gazet. He was known as ‘the terror of the Antwerp drug clans’ and had a great deal of knowledge and insight into the Moroccan criminal environment.
For example, he was involved in the investigation against the ‘Mixers’, a criminal group around the S. brothers, who were involved in extracting and distributing drugs.
Enemies
Crime journalist Joris van der Aa writes in the Gazet on Tuesday: ‘Because he made a lot of enemies in the Moroccan drug environment as a detective, stories surfaced years ago about the man, as if he would ‘protect’ certain major criminals against actions by the police and Justice. The aforementioned Mixers have been spreading messages for years to discredit the investigator involved.’
‘Incidentally, the large Mackerel file also contained stories that put the name of the chief inspector involved in a bad light. Sources in the environment point to the ties of friendship that the detective has maintained since his youth with a number of key figures in the Antwerp crime scene.’
