According to figures from the federal public prosecutor’s office, last year undercover officers were used in 65 criminal investigations. This is a new record. Undercover officers are officers from the Federal Judicial Police that go undercover to, for example, infiltrate criminal gangs under a false identity.
It is not entirely clear why there were so many covert operations in 2024. Such operations are kept top secret by the police and the prosecutor’s office. During the past 10 years, the number of undercover operations in which Belgian police officers were involved was around 40. Last year’s total of 65 was significantly higher than this.
VRT News has heard from reliable sources that there are now more requests from abroad to deploy Belgian undercover agents in cases with an international dimension that involve criminal activity that takes place here in Belgium. Foreign police and prosecutor’s offices have a high regard for Belgian undercover officers and this makes than more inclined to request their assistance.
Abroad, the undercover agents are seen as police officers who would do a good job, which ‘encourages’ such requests. In order to get an idea of what is going on in the higher echelons of criminal organisations surveillance, phone tapping, etc. no longer always suffice.
Today (Friday 14 February) the trial gets under way of a suspected terrorist that was caught thanks to the work of an undercover police officer posing as an arms dealer.