In investigations into drugs and human trafficking, Belgium’s federal police regularly come across the underground banking system known as hawala, spokesperson An Berger says: ‘It is certainly on our radar.’
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‘Hawala regularly crops up in investigations into drugs and human trafficking,’ federal police say
Colin Clapson
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Via hawala, cash is sent over long distances using intermediaries without the sums being physically moved. The system operates informally and without any oversight. This makes it a handy tool for criminals to launder dirty cash.
‘It is one of the forms of underground banking used by criminal organisations, alongside others,’ says Berger. ‘They have a lot of cash that they want to transfer abroad.’
Hawala is illegal in any case, says Berger, even if people use it to send small sums of money to family. ‘But that is not what we are focusing on. We are investigating the large criminal money flows.’
Additional investigators
Berger explains that more than 800 money laundering investigations were conducted in 2025. “A number of these were specifically focused on hawala or underground banking, but we usually come across it in investigations into, for example, drugs and human trafficking.” These are cases involving “enormous sums of money”.
According to Berger, it is possible for companies to become involved in the system unwittingly. She explains that this is often linked to social fraud and exploitation, where companies use cash to pay employees without making any declaration to the tax authorities. Which is, of course, illegal.
The fight against money laundering is a difficult battle, one that may never be fully won, Berger acknowledges. However, the police are stepping up their efforts. For example, 100 additional financial analysts are being recruited this year. ‘We really feel the need for more investigators.’
The search is ongoing and there is a lot of interest, says Berger. ‘Over a thousand people attended our first information session.’