The Belgian court has convicted more than a hundred people for their actions against drug gangs

By Sudip Kar-Gupta

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – A court in Belgium convicted more than 100 people on Tuesday in a mass drug trafficking trial that authorities hailed as a major victory in the fight against drug gangs.

Belgium has been on the front lines of Europe’s war on drugs. Officials have said more than 100 of Europe’s most dangerous criminal networks operate in Belgium, with drug gangs blamed for a rise in street shootings in Brussels.

The convictions followed law enforcement authorities’ previous shutdown of the encrypted messaging service Sky ECC, which was widely used by drug traffickers.

“Today, more than a hundred people were convicted during a large-scale trial against drug trafficking in Brussels,” the Belgian federal police said.

A total of 119 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 14 months to 17 years.

The harshest sentence was imposed on an Algerian, identified by authorities as Abdelwahab Guerni, who was given a 17-year prison sentence. An Albanian named Eridan Munoz-Guerrero was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“This marks a real turning point in the fight against organized crime and drug-related crime,” said Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, commenting on the verdicts.

Sky ECC’s encrypted messaging service was cracked in 2021 by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and Australian and European law enforcement agencies.

Europol said at the time that the operation provided “invaluable insights into hundreds of millions of messages exchanged between criminals.”

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Mike Harrison)