Belgium’s federal prosecutor’s office said a police operation of an unprecedented scale targeting organized crime is taking place across the country.
About 200 searches mobilizing more than 1,200 police officers are being carried out simultaneously throughout the country of 11.5 million people, the office told The Associated Press on Tuesday.
A spokesperson at the prosecutor’s office said searches started at around 5 am.
According to local broadcaster RTBF, the searches are mainly taking place in the region of Antwerp, and investigators are focusing on drug traffickers and a network with international connections.
With thousands of containers reaching Antwerp every day, the Belgian port city is one of Europe’s main ports of entry to Europe for cocaine.
Trafficking in the city has led to a surge of violence recently, with gunbattles and grenade attacks frequently taking place.
Last year, authorities in Belgium and three other countries dismantled a criminal drug trafficking network that shipped hundreds of millions of dollars worth of cocaine into Western Europe.
The investigation, which started when a container with 2.8 tons of cocaine was found last year in Antwerp, uncovered an international network with connections in at least four European countries and South America.
