Brussels Chief Prosecutor Julien Moinil has set out a broader plan to confront the drug trafficking networks behind the wave of shootings hitting the capital, after the tally reached 69 incidents so far this year and 170 since the start of 2025.
Moinil described the violence as rooted in territorial disputes between rival groups, saying they appear to be in conflict with each other and that the city is now caught in a cycle of retaliation. He repeated that anyone in Brussels could end up in the line of fire, regardless of any connection to the drug trade itself.
More detectives, foreign arrests, and cameras on the street
The prosecutor's plan calls for more resources for police investigation units, the arrest of gang leaders operating from abroad, and stricter controls to stop incarcerated gang members from directing operations and retaliatory attacks from their cells. He also wants 40 additional police officers deployed and mobile surveillance cameras installed in the areas most affected.
Moinil pointed to the scale of enforcement already under way, noting that more than 350 bars and restaurants have been shut down since 2025 over links to the drug trade, alongside the seizure of some 3,500 luxury vehicles. He said gangs are increasingly recruiting young people from France as well as undocumented migrants, and pointed to the port of Antwerp, one of Europe's main entry points for smuggled cocaine, as the source feeding much of the trade that fuels the violence in the capital.