Belgium’s New Security Minister Focuses on Combatting Money Laundering in Gang Crackdown

Belgium’s newly appointed Security Minister, Bernard Quintin, has committed to prioritizing the fight against money laundering as part of a comprehensive strategy to tackle criminal gangs. Representing the liberal Mouvement Réformateur party, Quintin emphasized the importance of cutting off drug supplies at their source. In a televised address on Monday, he stated, “We need to deploy increasing resources—not only financial and physical, but also in terms of sophistication.” He further stressed the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach to combat money laundering, declaring, “We are dealing with phenomenal sums of money.”

Quintin’s remarks come in the wake of a third consecutive night of gang-related shootings in Brussels, where rival factions are clashing over control of drug-selling territories. Social media has been abuzz with videos showing armed individuals navigating the Brussels metro and firing in crowded public spaces.

Louis Wittock, the CEO of the financial crime compliance firm Reform, echoed the importance of targeting money laundering to dismantle these gangs. He stated on LinkedIn, “Money is the lifeblood of criminal operations. If we hit them where it hurts—their wallets—we can cripple their activities at the source.”

According to police data, Brussels recorded 92 shootings last year, resulting in nine fatalities and 48 injuries. Since the beginning of this year, there have been six additional reported shootings.

Drug-related crime has long posed a significant challenge in Belgium, exacerbated by the influx of cocaine and other illicit drugs through the major port of Antwerp. Brussels’ Public Prosecutor, Julien Moinil, informed Belgian radio that the recent violent incidents were “reprisals to win back certain territories.”

These violent events unfolded shortly after the formation of Belgium’s new government, which has pledged a “zero-tolerance” policy toward drugs in the vicinity of train stations and plans to merge the six police zones in Brussels into a single department.

By fLEXI tEAM