Police in the Brussels municipality of Anderlecht have detained several people during an operation against the black economy. A total of 15 shops were raided in the operation that took place on Tuesday night. The police have turned their attention to the black economy that is believed to be being used to launder money from the trade in illegal drugs. Anderlecht has been the scene of several shooting, two of which fatal, in recent weeks.
The police had already said that they intended to mount more operations to curb the black economy in Anderlecht. Some shops (night shops, barbers,…) pose as genuine business, but in fact a nothing more than a front to launder drug money
Tuesday night’s operation took place in the Kuregem area of Anderlecht. This is one of the areas that has been the scene of drug-related violence in recent weeks. Among the several people that were detained, a least one will appear before an examining magistrate.
Of course, there are no precise figures on how many rogue traders there are in Anderlecht. However, the criminologist Jelle Janssens estimates that “Up to a third of the economy is in someway connected to the black economy”.
During the past few weeks there have been shooting in the Kuregem, Peterbos areas and near to the Sint-Guido metro station in Anderlecht. Two rival drugs gangs are waging a turf war. The trade in illegal narcotics can earn the gangs tens of thousands of euros a day. The shootings have left two people dead and three more injured.