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"Thanks" to the Albanian mafia, Brussels ranks in the top 3 cities in Europe with the most gunshots

2025-03-08 22:14:34Aktualitet SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
"Thanks" to the Albanian mafia, Brussels ranks in the top 3 cities in
Brussels ranks in the top 3 cities in Europe with the most gunshots

Another night, another gunshot: this is what seems to be happening in Anderlecht, a well-known neighborhood in Brussels.

After the shootings in recent weeks, there was another incident last Tuesday in the same location, at the Sint-Guido metro station.

A man was injured in the leg and the attacker fled on an electric scooter. This disturbing phenomenon is increasing in Brussels and the toll for this year has reached number nine.

Last year, according to the Flemish Peace Institute, the Belgian capital was ranked in the "top 3" of cities in Europe with the most gun violence.

Police counted 92 shootings at the time. That number has increased in recent years. In comparison, there were 56 in 2022. According to police sources, there is only one word to explain the increase in the number of shootings: drugs.

Other forms of banditry – bank robberies, classic thefts – have declined in recent years, as the criminal environment has increasingly focused on drug trafficking.

"Thanks" to the Albanian mafia, Brussels ranks in the top 3 cities in

Albanian mafia

This shift was evident with the Albanian mafia, which settled in Brussels after the fall of communism in the Balkan country. Initially, this mafia dealt mainly with human trafficking and prostitution.

"In the country's capital, Tirana, there was even a 'school' where girls were taught the tricks of this trade," says former investigating judge Michel Claise. "From there, they were sent to all the capitals of Europe."

The Albanian mafia at that time was also very active in Antwerp, especially among security guards in bars and nightclubs.

Over the years, Albanians became increasingly involved in drugs. Arrests were high, sentences low, as a police source summed up their motivation.

Today, the Albanian mafia has gone as far as wholesale cocaine sales: it manages the transport from South America to Europe.

The Albanian mafia has turned Brussels into a major distribution center, sources say.

Drugs are being smuggled out of the Belgian capital to other parts of Europe. By dismantling the “Sky ECC” crypto phone network, police in Brussels have been able to deal a serious blow to the Albanian mafia.

"Thanks" to the Albanian mafia, Brussels ranks in the top 3 cities in

Mega-trial

In a mega-trial last year, more than a hundred defendants were sentenced to long prison terms.

But that didn't deter Albanian criminal networks. On Tuesday, police called in two hundred more officers for a large-scale operation against an Albanian gang in Molenbeek.

In the past, there have been scores settled in Brussels that were not related to drugs. But with old blood feuds between Albanian families. In 2022, Erion Hasanbelliu was shot seven times in front of the entrance of a hotel on "De Brouckèreplein".

The shooting turned out to be revenge for an attack that Hasanbelliu himself had carried out in Antwerp against a high-ranking Albanian gangster who had killed his father in Albania more than twenty years earlier.

Alongside Albanian networks, the so-called "bandes urbaines" (local gangs) have traditionally been active in Brussels, which are always linked to a specific neighborhood.

“Matongé” is known as the “Black Wolves” area. They trade almost all types of drugs there. “In the past, it was mainly cannabis,” says Astrid De Schutter (Flemish Peace Institute), who wrote a report on drug violence in Belgium.

“But in the meantime, the offer has expanded considerably.” Their clients are homeless and young people, but also employees of European institutions.

A good, easily managed square yields profits of tens of thousands of euros per day to a gang.

When the Versailles gang from Laken made its entrance, the district became the scene of a violent territorial dispute.

In late 2023, a hitman pulled out a gun on Guldenvlieslaan to eliminate someone – an attack that was also part of that territorial battle.

"But in addition to his target, the perpetrator also hit several innocent victims," ​​says De Schutter. "A Swedish woman was injured, among others."

"Thanks" to the Albanian mafia, Brussels ranks in the top 3 cities in

Wrongful killings

What worries experts is that many attacks in Brussels are carried out by young perpetrators – often minors.

They are given a gun by gangs to do a job. Because young shooters are very impulsive and reckless, the risk of “mistaken killings” or innocent victims is very high.

This is also shown by the attacks of recent weeks. "There is a family who woke up this morning with a bullet in their child's bedroom," said prosecutor Julien Moinil a few weeks ago.

Earlier this month, a Ukrainian refugee was shot in the leg at the Clemenceau metro station. The family of a 19-year-old who was killed last weekend also tells De Standaard that he had no connection to the drug world.

In Anderlecht (a neighborhood in Brussels), the influence of the French mafia from Marseille is clearly noticeable, according to police sources.

A culture of gun violence has erupted from the southern French port city. "In Sweden, drug gangs are using young teenagers to carry out contract killings," says one source.

"Because young people under 15 cannot be prosecuted there. We haven't reached that point yet. But we are very afraid."

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