Passengers on the Brussels metro witnessed a remarkable scene on Monday evening: a drug deal was executed in a moving carriage between stations Ribaucourt and Rogier in full sight of other passengers. According to eyewitness Dimitri Strobbe addicts bought their drugs from a dealer and then got out to take the drugs on the platform.
‘Several neighbourhood committees have been raising the alarm for years,’ Strobbe writes on X. ’Our committee intends to take the town council to task regarding what happened at Ribaucourt-Molenbeek, but you see the same problems in more and more places across Brussels.’
The drug problem in metro and tram stations in Brussels has been around for some time. In 2023, the transport company's security service recorded more than 4,000 incidents involving drug addicts in Brussels metro stations. To tackle this, since February 2023, transport company MIVB has been working with several organisations eager to prevent drug abuse through a project called Sublink. A list of 10 high-risk stations has been drawn up. They include Ribaucourt, IJzer, Zuidstation, Naamsepoort, Beurs, Anneessens, Kruidtuin, Troon, Park and Munthof.
The situation has not yet been resolved, says Brussels mobility minister Elke Van den Brandt (ecologist groen). ‘Everyone still needs to step up to the plate. We have now provided additional staff and resources. Additional staff are being deployed both for MIVB's security services and to strengthen the social intervention teams and organise them ourselves.’
More security guards
The transport company is aware of the incident. ‘We saw the post on X, but our security staff were not notified. So, they were unable to intervene,’ says spokesman Laurent Vermeersch. ‘Their authority is of course limited, but they are doing good work with the police. Police have arrested the man who pushed someone onto the tracks at the Ribaucourt metro station last week.’
Mr Vermeersch acknowledges that there is a big drug problem, also in metro stations. ‘It is a difficult issue to solve. We make every effort to avoid such incidents. Around 20 new security officers will start next week. As part of Sublink, new squads will also be deployed.’