During a raid on a warehouse in the East Flemish town of Hamme, special units of the federal police discovered 2,760 kilos of cocaine on Monday evening. According to the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office, ten men were arrested. There are also suspects with Dutch and Moroccan nationality.
Jute
The pressed blocks of cocaine were in jute bags for coffee beans. It is not known where the container was loaded.
The raid was staged after information was received by the Federal Judicial Police (FGP) Antwerp about a suspicious container.
16 year old
That container was picked up on Monday at quay 1742 in the port of Antwerp. The police then saw that the container was transported to a warehouse in Drapstraat in Hamme.
It was then decided to have an arrest team raid the warehouse. That happened around 9 p.m.
One of the suspects is a 16-year-old boy. After the action in Hamme, a 29-year-old man was arrested in Meise and a 32-year-old driver of a straddle carrier was arrested at quay 1742.
Six nationalities
The eleven men are between 23 and 40 years old and have Belgian, Dutch, Moroccan, Armenian, Latvian and Ukrainian nationality.
The minor comes from Antwerp-Borgerhout. He has been placed in juvenile detention.
The judicial investigation is still being continued by the Antwerp Federal Judicial Police.
