The investigation began when the Brussels PJF was informed of an order for 400 liters of MEC (methyl ethyl ketone) in August 2022. The two barrels, imported from Hungary, were destined for Portugal via a relay address in Laeken. MEC, the sale of which is severely regulated, is a solvent which, diverted, allows cocaine to be extracted when it has been mixed with other products.
The investigation began after the delivery of two barrels of cocaine precursor products.
A discreet observation is carried out. The barrels are unloaded on the sidewalk. A car, with three men on board, arrives on site. A Renault Trafic joins them. She takes the barrels. Based on observations and telephone investigations, investigators will draw up an image of the criminal organization.
Ali Baba’s cellar in Ohain
Different addresses will be identified: in Zaventem, Wemmel and Ohain in particular. Ohain’s house is rented by the former childcare worker who, she says, planned to open a massage parlor there. The rent, amounting to 2,500 euros, was paid by one of the two men considered to be one of the two leaders of the criminal organization. Already convicted in England, this Albanian was the boyfriend of his student daughter.
In Ohain’s cellar, investigators discovered 3 kg of cocaine and 7 kg of cutting products during a search. They seized equipment for the extraction of cocaine there. It seems that the laboratory was to be set up in Wemmel.
The Ohain address can be linked to a seizure in Louvain where twenty barrels of red fruit pulp and four barrels of yellow fruit pulp were discovered. The pulp contained a total of 63 kg of cocaine. “I am a responsible mother. I had never imagined such a situation.”said the former childcare worker during her questioning in court.
The two “straw women”, who managed the front companies where the vehicles were registered, also said they were amazed. The mechanic simply says he has lent a vehicle. As for the two Albanians, already convicted in England for one and in Italy for the other, they also deny any involvement.
These denials did not convince the representative of the public prosecutor, who also demanded 19 million euros in confiscations.
Fear of retaliation
Me Cédric Vergauwen, lawyer for the defendant against whom the heaviest sentence (10 years) was requested, motivated the silence of his client and the defendants, by fear “much more serious trouble than the criminal sanction”namely the reprisals of traffic leaders. He believes that his client, who he admits learned from a Colombian about cleaning and extracting cocaine, is only a simple link in a much larger chain.
Judgment in February.
