It is well known that Belgium is extremely important for the international organized drug trade. With its ports and its central location, it is the gateway to Europe and an important hub for the onward transport of drugs. But in recent years, drug-related violence has escalated significantly, at least in perception. But the violence was there before, stressed the National Drug Commissioner Ine Van Wymersch in an interview with Radio Eén. It just took place in dark alleys and backyards, where normal citizens didn’t notice much of it.
Disposable offenders
In the meantime, however, the cartels in Belgium have switched to the so-called “Marseille method”. The gangs now use “disposable perpetrators”. These are people who have nothing to lose and who are given heavy weapons to do the dirty work. These perpetrators do not shy away from using brutal violence at times and in places that endanger the lives of innocent people.
It is virtually impossible to get this type of criminal under control; with their money, the cartels have access to an almost inexhaustible reservoir of ever new henchmen.
This type of violence can only be prevented by taking action against organised crime as a whole. In doing so, we must not only focus on drug trafficking, but also on other areas of organised crime, such as arms and human trafficking or the trade in forged documents.
The gangs operate on the basis of “crime as a service” and are organized accordingly. They think in categories such as “what do we need” and “how can we make the most money”.
Drugs, for example, will always find buyers, admits Van Wymersch, which is why it is virtually impossible to destroy the market. Instead, organized crime must be hit where it is possible: with its money.
Reversal of the burden of proof
As mentioned, the main goal of the gangs is to earn as much money as possible. But that is not enough, the money also has to be laundered. That is why the criminals try to invest the illegally earned money so that the police and the judiciary can no longer find out where the money actually comes from. This money laundering cycle must be destroyed.
To this end, the National Drug Commissioner wants to introduce a reversal of the burden of proof. If it is not clear how a person finances a luxurious lifestyle, for example, then that person must prove to the authorities that everything is above board, that income and possessions come from legal sources and were acquired legally – and not the other way around as has been the case up to now. If someone does not have the corresponding income but still drives big cars or owns other luxury goods, then everyone knows that something is not right.
Such systems for reversing the burden of proof already exist in other European countries and have proven to be effective there, emphasises the national drug commissioner. This could therefore also be perfectly introduced in Belgium in order to step up the fight against organised crime.
Boris Schmidt
