A 27-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of rape at the campsite of the Tomorrowland dance music festival in Boom (Antwerp Province). The Antwerp public prosecutor's office has confirmed the news. During the first festival weekend 180 visitors were caught with drugs on their person. 36 people were arrested, including 10 alleged drug dealers who are due in court at a hearing especially devoted to offences committed during Tomorrowland.
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27-year-old arrested on suspicion of rape at Tomorrowland campsite, 180 visitors caught with drugs
Colin Clapson
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The rape allegedly occurred at the DreamVille campsite. The suspect is a 27-year-old Belgian.
Police have taken stock after a first festival weekend. Some 200,000 visitors flocked to the festival last weekend. To keep everything on track, several hundred police officers were also present.
180 festival-goers were caught in possession of drugs. They were offered on-the-spot settlements, totalling 45,900 euros. Drugs were confiscated and festival-goers caught were removed from the venue.
Last year, 210 festival-goers were caught with drugs during the first weekend.
Special Tomorrowland hearing to follow later
Like every year, those arrested include many foreigners. The 10 suspects due to appear in court on suspicion of drug-dealing include 3 Dutch, 2 Spanish, and 2 North Macedonian nationals as well as one Belgian, one Italian and one Serbian national. They will have to appear in court later this year at a special court hearing.
The National Institute for Criminalistics and Criminology (NICC) learned that cannabis and MDMA were the drugs most frequently seized at the festival. The Institute warned that many festival-goers do not know exactly which drugs they are taking and that combination preparations, such as so-called “pink powders”, are also circulating.
On Friday a Canadian visitor became unwell at Tomorrowland and died in hospital. The prosecutor's office said there were indications of drug use. Further investigation should be more conclusive.