Yesterday, Friday, the Belgian authorities announced the arrest of 4 suspects during several raids in the city of Antwerp, "for their association with a drug trafficking and money laundering network, likely to be run from Dubai," according to Agence France-Presse.
A judge ordered that 3 of the suspects (ages 32, 37 and 39) remain in detention, while two of them appeared in court on Friday.
The raids were carried out last Tuesday following information obtained from the Sky ECC encrypted phone system, which was breached by law enforcement authorities in several countries two years ago, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office in Antwerp.
Police confiscated money-counting devices, GPS tracking devices and jammers, more than 900,000 euros in cash, in addition to valuable watches and luxury cars in searches of 21 addresses.
Prosecutors said the investigation focused on a "financial facilitator" in Antwerp working with the criminal network, which is believed to have raised 15 million euros since the start of 2021.
It is noteworthy that the port of Antwerp is one of the main ports of entry for drugs into Europe, and prosecutors said that "criminal groups operating there are subject to increased surveillance from Dubai or Turkey."