The Fort Worth Press - Scores jailed in Belgium drug smuggling mega-trial

USD -
AED 3.672989
AFN 71.498384
ALL 91.375029
AMD 391.160458
ANG 1.790208
AOA 917.000052
ARS 1072.800695
AUD 1.589195
AWG 1.8025
AZN 1.705782
BAM 1.811219
BBD 2.018475
BDT 121.482648
BGN 1.802698
BHD 0.376971
BIF 2926
BMD 1
BND 1.343366
BOB 6.907601
BRL 5.692802
BSD 3.495
BTN 85.449031
BWP 13.836501
BYN 3.271549
BYR 19600
BZD 2.008011
CAD 1.432565
CDF 2870.999759
CHF 0.88285
CLF 0.024908
CLP 955.839761
CNY 7.268101
CNH 7.280205
COP 4153.75
CRC 502.211006
CUC 1
CUP 26.5
CVE 102.050366
CZK 22.988495
DJF 177.720185
DKK 6.87673
DOP 63.324964
DZD 133.712147
EGP 50.568902
ERN 15
ETB 129.849787
EUR 0.921645
FJD 2.322499
FKP 0.773835
GBP 0.770995
GEL 2.760391
GGP 0.773835
GHS 15.454482
GIP 0.773835
GMD 72.127796
GNF 8649.682527
GTQ 7.713223
GYD 209.94982
HKD 7.78277
HNL 25.564942
HRK 6.941603
HTG 130.445587
HUF 372.296894
IDR 16718.576893
ILS 3.701965
IMP 0.773835
INR 85.554357
IQD 1308.299078
IRR 42104.284763
ISK 133.051944
JEP 0.773835
JMD 156.330273
JOD 0.70906
JPY 150.114501
KES 129.247253
KGS 86.535048
KHR 3993.237165
KMF 455.492709
KPW 900.019816
KRW 1471.238741
KWD 0.308329
KYD 0.831751
KZT 503.440561
LAK 21634.158301
LBP 89322.563868
LKR 294.670386
LRD 199.943579
LSL 18.386538
LTL 2.95274
LVL 0.60489
LYD 4.811016
MAD 9.629604
MDL 17.958258
MGA 4670.178386
MKD 56.942607
MMK 2099.510008
MNT 3481.383862
MOP 8.013924
MRU 39.697342
MUR 45.624205
MVR 15.4421
MWK 1731.877317
MXN 20.45005
MYR 4.436466
MZN 63.884802
NAD 18.386538
NGN 1536.893581
NIO 36.760755
NOK 10.40773
NPR 136.951137
NZD 1.744181
OMR 0.384995
PAB 1
PEN 3.668903
PGK 4.090104
PHP 57.238189
PKR 279.631053
PLN 3.872133
PYG 7946.798552
QAR 3.639572
RON 4.608694
RSD 108.488768
RUB 84.529386
RWF 1418.368583
SAR 3.74987
SBD 8.500308
SCR 14.484863
SDG 600.465319
SEK 9.913065
SGD 1.343437
SHP 0.785843
SLE 22.830348
SLL 20969.501083
SOS 570.385514
SRD 36.855947
STD 20697.981008
SVC 8.749972
SYP 13002.468687
SZL 18.386538
THB 34.186323
TJS 10.900219
TMT 3.497766
TND 3.103211
TOP 2.407834
TRY 37.92291
TTD 6.767183
TWD 33.248604
TZS 2646.107198
UAH 41.255737
UGX 3649.561079
UYU 42.148301
UZS 12911.275778
VES 69.589677
VND 25640.752098
VUV 123.375609
WST 2.83707
XAF 607.323613
XAG 0.029609
XAU 0.00032
XCD 2.707403
XDR 0.752731
XOF 607.323613
XPF 110.484353
YER 246.006073
ZAR 18.840565
ZMK 9001.19551
ZMW 28.143801
ZWL 321.999592
  • CMSC

    0.0370

    22.477

    +0.16%

  • BCC

    1.8800

    100.79

    +1.87%

  • BCE

    -1.0000

    21.78

    -4.59%

  • NGG

    -0.2000

    65.58

    -0.3%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    11.36

    +0.35%

  • CMSD

    0.1100

    22.93

    +0.48%

  • GSK

    -0.3200

    37.55

    -0.85%

  • JRI

    -0.0160

    12.964

    -0.12%

  • RIO

    -0.5900

    59.64

    -0.99%

  • BTI

    -1.0650

    40.035

    -2.66%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    68

    0%

  • RYCEF

    -0.1800

    9.87

    -1.82%

  • BP

    -0.0500

    33.76

    -0.15%

  • RELX

    0.0800

    50.75

    +0.16%

  • VOD

    -0.1550

    9.115

    -1.7%

  • AZN

    -0.4700

    72.13

    -0.65%

Scores jailed in Belgium drug smuggling mega-trial
Scores jailed in Belgium drug smuggling mega-trial / Photo: © AFP/File

Scores jailed in Belgium drug smuggling mega-trial

A Belgian court jailed scores of people Tuesday in one of the country's biggest ever drug trials, with ringleaders sentenced to up to 17 years behind bars.

Text size:

More than 120 defendants from Belgium, Albania, Colombia and North Africa were accused of having participated in a multinational cocaine and cannabis trafficking enterprise after investigators cracked encrypted messaging apps.

Judges issued sentences totalling more than 700 years in a case that shone a spotlight on Belgium's role as Europe's gateway for drugs.

Only nine of the accused were acquitted.

Another 119 received prison terms ranging from a few months to more than 15 years on a range of charges including taking part in a criminal organisation, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and attempted extortion.

The court also ordered the confiscation of assets for tens of millions of euros.

"It is an extremely harsh judgment," Gilles Vanderbeck, a lawyer representing one of the alleged ringleaders, told AFP, noting the low number of exonerations and suspended sentences.

His client, Algerian Abdelwahab Guerni, was jailed for 17 years, the stiffest sentence handed down on Tuesday.

Guerni, a tall bald man, was among two dozen defendants who were led in handcuffs into a courtroom in the former headquarters of military alliance NATO in Brussels.

They sat in the dock faced by a line of police officers as judges read out the long list of verdicts.

Other accused who had been bailed pending the trial, sat in court to await their fate.

- 'I played, I lost' -

Albanian citizen Eridan Munoz Guerrero, another suspected leader, received a 14-year term.

Accused of running several cocaine laboratories in Belgium, Munoz Guerrero had admitted his guilt at the start of the trial telling the court: "Your honour, I played, I lost."

His lawyer, Nathalie Gallant, described the verdict as "fair", adding her client's sentence reflected his cooperation with the authorities.

The trafficking ring -- active from 2017 to late 2022 -- involved numerous criminal gangs and was dismantled following raids by police in Belgium, Germany and Italy.

Prosecutors had asked for jail terms of up to 20 years for some of the accused.

They said drugs were transported in containers from South America and Morocco and smuggled through ports in Belgium, notably the giant port of Antwerp, as well as The Netherlands, Germany and France before being sold across Europe.

The case was in part based on evidence uncovered after investigators cracked the covert Sky ECC and EncroChat apps, which the gangs used to communicate.

By breaking into the messaging tools, police said they were able to peer into the unguarded planning and carrying out of drug smuggling operations.

- 'Publicity stunt' -

Belgian authorities have portrayed the trial as the latest blow to drug smuggling gangs.

But some defence lawyers decried it as a "publicity stunt", accusing prosecutors of having bundled together disconnected cases into one eye-catching trial.

"The fact that they were all tried together gave an impression of grandeur and probably allowed for the sentences to be increased," Vanderbeck said.

Prosecutors insist there was a "structure and hierarchy" between the various criminal groups involved and clear illegal commercial links.

The judgment was initially expected on September 2 but was postponed after an objection by one of the defendants.

Lawyers for some defendants said they were considering appealing, but needed to first read the judgment, which ran more than 1,000 pages.

"This was one of the largest criminal trials in the country's history," the Brussels court said in a statement, adding its organisation had been "a real challenge" given the number of people involved.

A.Maldonado--TFWP