the boss Lucio Aquino arrested in the maxi anti-Ndrangheta operation "Eureka"

https://www.gva.be/cnt/dmf20230503_92637590

Interesting first time the five still living brothers are directly linked to the mother organisation.

Mafia suspects arrested in Belgium to be handed over to Italy

Three of the 13 people arrested in Belgium as part of the vast police operation against the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta mafia, will be handed over to Italy, the federal prosecutor’s office confirmed

https://www.brusselstimes.com/belgi...ed-in-belgium-to-be-handed-over-to-italy

They were very sophisticated in the money transfers around the world and laundered millions of euros in cash thanks to the Chinese criminal circuits.

«We are contacting the Chinese to send the money to the "kangaroos"»
"Everything's fine - explains Sebastiano Strangio - today they have to deliver the money to South America for the work in Australia ". A few days later, the Giorgi clan wondered why " the referents in Ecuador " had not "yet withdrawn the money sent".

Giuseppe N., Marcello N. and Sebastiano S.

I'm still convinced the Haemers gang and/or Baasrode gang were involved.and there is a link to stay-behindnetwork GLADIO.

In the broadcast of the Dutch SBS6 program Peter R. de Vries, crime reporter of April 22, 2007, it was suggested that Gladio would still be active in the Netherlands. During its own investigation that started a few years earlier, the crime program came across the phenomenon that thousands of firearms disappeared from 'the upper world' into 'the underworld'. This was done according to a fixed construction, so that the weapons remained untraceable. Arms dealers have been arrested by the police at home and abroad , but the judiciary invariably made sure that the suspects were not brought to justice. It is suspected that these weapons were intended for Gladio.

@ TKJ

The Agusta scandal was another huge story linked to the Sicilians.

Lucio Aquino also had links to the Bandidos. The amount of cocaine they smuggled to Europe is incredible.

The Court of Cassation in Belgium has rejected the cassation appeal of three alleged Italian mafiosi from Belgian Limburg in the Eureka investigation, into members of the Italian mafia clan 'ndrangheta. One of them has already been surrendered to Italy. The same fate threatens for five other suspects. That writes the Importance of Limburg .

Donato O. (35) has been the first of the six suspects in an Italian cell since Wednesday. The cassation appeals of his cousin Lucio Aquino (61) and Francesco S. (56) were also rejected. The same fate now threatens his brother Sebastiano S. (53), pizza baker Marcello N. (56) and his brother Giuseppe N. (49) from Genk. The Court of Cassation has yet to hear their case, but it is expected that sooner or later they too will be handed over to Italy, where a strict mafia regime awaits them.

Membership 'ndrangheta
The six alleged Belgian members of the Italian mafia clan 'ndrangheta are suspected of money laundering, tax evasion, drug smuggling and fraud. They allegedly imported large shipments of cocaine from Latin America to the port of Antwerp. Stopover was an Italian port. They are also suspected of setting up cocaine laundries and the import and export of hashish and weed.

Eureka
In the Italian and Belgian Eureka investigation, 147 alleged members of the 'ndrangheta were arrested on 3 May 2023 during raids in various European countries. Italy has since asked for the surrender of the six Belgian Limburgers.


Donato O. was the first to be handed over to Italy on Wednesday.

The same scenario threatens for the five other suspects, although Lucio Aquino may still have a catch. Aquino is in fact imprisoned in Hasselt in the extensive Belgian Costa investigation into large-scale international cocaine trade. It focuses on 62 suspects, including Bandidos member Geert F., the elderly former gendarme Willy Van Mechelen and the fugitive Dutch drug lord Bolle Jos.

LOL good old former gendarme Willy Van Mechelen, this guy is involved in trafficking since the 80s first working with the Octopus organization. He used to be a top military cop.

On Monday, just on the day he celebrated his 57th birthday, Marcello Nirta from Genk was surrendered to Italy. The very popular pizza baker is suspected of being part of the 'ndrangheta clan in Limburg. That is why he is now in the Italian cell.
Marcello took a picture with football players, singers and politicians.

The US government has opened the hunt for Antwerp resident Othman El Ballouti (37), who according to the US is an important cocaine smuggler. The US Treasury Department has blacklisted El Ballouti – who resides in Dubai – from the Office Of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The Americans also want to seize all his assets. Othman El Ballouti responds laconically.

Mexican criminal threatens Antwerp resident: 'debts are debts of honor'
July 20, 2023

A video has surfaced in which a representative of a Mexican drug cartel urges Othman El Ballouti from Antwerp to pay debts. That writes the Gazet van Antwerp.

Player
Othman El Ballouti (37) is said to be an important player in the international cocaine trade environment, something he himself has denied.

In the video, a Mexican man addresses 'Señor El Ballouti' directly.

The man identifies himself as someone from the state of Sinaloa (in northwestern Mexico). He says he speaks on behalf of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the fugitive leader of the Sinaloa cartel.

Debts of honor
"I'm sorry Mr Ballouti that I sent people to the door of one of your people to settle a debt," says the Mexican.

'You need to get serious. Debts are debts of honor.'

The man invites Ballouti to show the video to people from Mexico in Europe so that they can tell him who he is, suggesting that he is not to be trifled with.

Belgium’s biggest criminal trial with 129 defendants starts

Belgium’s the largest criminal trial starts today. 129 defendants face charges: 124 actual persons, four companies and a person unknown that the court still has to identify. Everything revolves around drugs: the import of cocaine from South America and cannabis from Morocco.

Drug crimes are centre stage. The implication is Belgium operated as an international hub.

On Tuesday, October 26, 2021, at 5 am police raided 114 premises across the country, aiming to unravel a large drug network. It is an offshoot of the SKY ECC investigation, when investigators managed to hack into the system used by encrypted SKY ECC telephones, often employed by criminals, and managed to read the messages criminals were exchanging and learn their plans for two and a half years.

That investigation resulted in hundreds of files involving thousands of suspects.

A "new criminal world is being revealed in Brussels. It’s territory which until now had managed to remain largely inconspicuous" says Eric Jacobs, a key police officer on that October 26th.

The case revolves on the import of cocaine from South America and cannabis from Morocco. The drugs are imported and extracted in Belgium, repackaged in laboratories and then distributed to the rest of Europe.

What investigators found during their investigations was impressive: no fewer than nine drug laboratories are dismantled - in warehouses, but often also in ordinary terraced houses, barrels and vats full of chemicals or drug waste, tables and bowls full of white powder, notebooks with scribbled notes on how to run drug laboratories, weapons, piles of cash, dozens of cars, gold coins, luxury goods, material to fabricate fake documents, jammers, propulsion engines for divers and so on.

The drugs had been liquefied and injected into ordinary objects, such as clothing. In the laboratory, the drugs are then removed using chemicals - a so-called cocaine wash. Then the cocaine is pressed back into blocks. In other laboratories, pure cocaine was adulterated or mixed with other products to maximise profits.

Conditions in the laboratories were not very safe or professional. At one of the sites, for instance, traces of a fire are clearly visible. Drugs were also scattered everywhere, on tables, in bowls, in cupboards. In a notebook, investigators also discovered scribbles, with chemical processes, but all amateurishly drawn.

What will happen next?

This major investigation has now been completed and the trial promises to be a major challenge for the court system.

The case features no fewer than 129 defendants (124 people, four companies and one person unknown). Belgians, but also Albanians, Colombians, Algerians and French nationals. They do not form one big gang, but a tangle of different gangs. One thing seems to tie them together: their encrypted messages - first via Encrochat, then Sky ECC - landed them in the dock.

Dozens of defendants are in jail across the country. That means they will have to be transferred to court every day.

The accused also include a police inspector from the Brussels South police zone. He allegedly provided information from police databases and thus breached his professional secrecy. Separately, there is also an ongoing investigation into a Brussels lawyer, who is also allegedly involved in this case.

The main focus is on drugs, but the gangs are said to have been involved in other crimes too: extortion, kidnapping, arms trafficking, forgery and money laundering.

The first four defendants are being questioned today; they are said to have had the biggest roles. Most of the defendants' lawyers claim that the investigation was not conducted legally. It is estimated the whole trial will take five months

https://www.vrt.be/vrtnws/en/2023/12/18/criminal-trial-drugs-belgium-brussels-gangs-sky-ecc/

NOS News
•
Today, 08:31
Three officers arrested in major Belgian drug investigation

The police in Belgium have arrested 22 people in a major investigation, including three police officers. In connection with the investigation, 42 homes and businesses were raided yesterday, including in Brussels and Antwerp.

Money, expensive cars and Sky ECC phones were seized in the raids. Criminals use these phones to forward encrypted messages, but investigation services have been able to crack them since 2021.

"The analysis of several Sky ECC telephones revealed the import of cocaine via the port of Antwerp," a source from the investigative services told De Morgen newspaper . "Some key figures are suspected of trying to export cocaine to England using helicopters."

The investigation started in February last year due to settlements in the Brussels drug environment, involving the use of firearms.

'Anderlecht liquidation was a mistaken murder', six suspects arrested
Six suspects have been arrested in Belgium and France on suspicion of involvement in the liquidation of a 31-year-old man on September 14, 2023 in Anderlecht. The victim was riddled with Kalashnikovs in his car.

Two suspects have been arrested in Belgium, four in France. The Frenchmen were arrested on Tuesday by the French authorities after a Belgian request for legal assistance. They are currently being held in France awaiting their extradition to Belgium.

The investigation shows that three of the suspects arrested in France were said to have been present at the time of the liquidation. The fourth suspect is believed to be the driver of the second getaway car, which drove the other three suspects from France to Belgium and back.

Mistaken Identity
According to the Brussels public prosecutor's office, the initial findings of the investigation seem to indicate that there may have been a mistaken murder in the drug world. The public prosecutor's office does not report who the intended target was. The two Belgian suspects have been placed under arrest warrant by the investigating judge as perpetrator or accomplice, murder, theft by means of breaking and entering, climbing in or false (car) keys, deliberate arson at night and forming a gang with the intention of committing a murder.

The judicial investigation is still ongoing.

https://www.crimesite.nl/liquidatie-anderlecht-was-vergismoord-zes-verdachten-vast/

Antwerp Justice: Criminals wanted to remove 1.5 tons of cocaine from customs warehouse
In the judicial investigation into an attempted break-in at a customs warehouse in Antwerp last March, four people were arrested on Wednesday. The Antwerp public prosecutor's office states that a criminal organization wanted to retrieve a seized shipment of 1.5 tons of cocaine. Bulletproof vests with the words 'police' were found on the suspects.

https://www.crimesite.nl/justitie-a...15-ton-cocaine-uit-douaneloods-weghalen/

Europe
Lawsuits
Belgian court convicts more than 100 people in crackdown on drug gangs
By Sudip Kar-Gupta
October 29, 20246:28 PM GMT+1Updated 7 hours ago


Summary
Trial stemmed from takedown of Sky ECC messaging service
Sentences ranged from 14 months to 17 years
Convictions mark "real turning point" in crime fight - minister

BRUSSELS, Oct 29 (Reuters) - A court in Belgium sentenced more than 100 people in a mass drugs trafficking trial on Tuesday which authorities hailed as a major victory in the battle against drug gangs.
Belgium has been on the front line in Europe's war against 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 resulted from the earlier takedown by law enforcement authorities of the Sky ECC encrypted messaging service that had been widely used by drugs traffickers.
"More than 100 people were convicted today during a massive drug trafficking trial in Brussels," said the Belgian federal police.
In all, 119 people were sentenced to prison terms ranging between 14 months and 17 years.
The biggest sentence was handed out to an Algerian identified by the authorities as Abdelwahab Guerni, who got a 17 years prison sentence. An Albanian called Eridan Munoz-Guerrero was convicted to 14 years in prison.
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"This marks a real turning point in the battle against organised crime and against criminality related to drugs," said Belgian Interior Minister Annelies Verlinden, commenting on the verdicts.
The Sky ECC encrypted messaging service was cracked by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Australian and European law enforcement agencies in 2021.
Europol said at the time that the operation "provided invaluable insights into hundreds of millions of messages exchanged between criminals".

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belgian-court-convicts-more-than-100-people-crackdown-drug-gangs-2024-10-29/#:~:text=%22More%20than%20100%20people%20were,14%20months%20and%2017%20years.

The Antwerp monster trial against drug clan Y.: 'Many police officers and state security men are driving around in our cars'

Large-scale cocaine smuggling, corruption, money laundering and violence: the criminal case against the Turkish-Assyrian clan Y., one of the largest crime families in Antwerp, reads like a mafia novel. In the mega-trial, which starts on Monday 6 January, no fewer than 104 defendants are on trial, including Albanian clients, police officers and a priest. A reconstruction of the rise and fall of a drug family with tentacles reaching into the police and even the N-VA.

https://image.humo.be/252085941/width/1280/humo-2-drugsclan

The largest Belgian drug trial ever has begun: who are the main characters in the 'Costa' case?
The 'Costa' case started today in the court of Tongeren. But what is this mega trial actually about? And who are the main suspects?

Crime
Panorama Editorial
Mar 10, 2025 | 6:02 PM


In the Netherlands we have the notorious and gigantic criminal cases 'Marengo' and 'Eris', but in Belgium they also have a trial that all eyes are on. In 'Costa' no less than 57 people are on trial for the import of 25 tons of South American coke with a street value of around 3.5 billion euros. These drugs were smuggled into Europe via the port of Antwerp.

Unique to the 'Costa' case is the number of notorious underworld figures on trial. From a (former?) Bandidos man and a former police officer, to the son of a famous basketball player and an Italian-Belgian criminal family. And 'Bolle Jos' is also seen as a key figure in a drug network that brought billions of cocaine into the country.

According to the judiciary, there was a collaboration for years between four large criminal organizations that smuggled cocaine via shipments of wood, scrap metal and fruit.

'The Little Escobar'
The first organization would be led by Tom Bastiaanse and Willy van Mechelen . Bastiaanse, alias 'the little Escobar of the Kempen', used to import cars via the port of Antwerp. He would also have all kinds of contacts there, which he used to smuggle large quantities of cocaine into the country. His partner Van Mechelen is a notorious figure in the Belgian underworld, since 'Uncle Willy' used to be a policeman. In fact, Willy was at one point adjutant-chief of the drugs section of the Antwerp surveillance and investigation brigade (BOB). However, at some point he made the switch to the underworld. At that time he was already familiar with all the important figures within the Belgian criminal circuit.

Police chief becomes cocaine smuggler: the career switch of 'Uncle Willy' | Panorama
From the edition of Wednesday, October 27, 2021: Willy van Mechelen (78) was first a super cop, then a flat cop and then completely switched to the other side. Belgium has been enjoying the gripping adventures of 'The Uncle' for decades, but our country is also a common thread in his bizarre life. How a celebrated police chief transformed into one of the biggest drug dealers in the Benelux. "If you sleep with the dog, eat with it and covet its food, then you know you're going to get its fleas."

The Dutchmen Bastiaan O. and Berry S. are also said to be part of this organization. Peter R., Florus W. and Kurt V. are also said to be part of this organization, as well as a number of people from the 'upper world', according to the Belgian Nieuwsblad .

Aquinos
The second organization is said to be headed by Italian-born Lucio , one of the notorious Aquino brothers. The Aquino family is sometimes referred to in the Belgian media as 'The gang of the chatterboxes' or 'the Sopranos on the Maas', because several family members have been convicted of drug smuggling in the past, according to VRT . According to the judiciary, Lucio has been running a successful cocaine line between South America and Europe for 13 years. He reportedly received help from Albanian Bledar 'Ghost' Seferi and Ibrahim Ozcan .

Bandidos man Frisson
A third organization that would be involved in the large-scale import of cocaine would be led by Geert Frisson . The Belgian is or was a prominent member of the motorcycle club Bandidos. It is speculated that he held the position of vice-chairman. That he has or had ties to the club is obvious, because he has the club name tattooed on his face. As well as an image of a Kalashnikov rifle, a gigantic knuckle duster and the abbreviation ACAB (all cops are bastards).

According to the judiciary, Frisson was responsible for almost half of the total 25 tons of coke that was intercepted by the Belgian police. A shipment of 11.5 tons was seized. Drugs that the Bandidos man had wanted to smuggle into the country, according to the Public Prosecution Service. Another alleged key figure within this organization is said to be Rijntjes H.

'Bulky Jos'
The fourth organization is that of none other than 'Bolle Jos ' Leijdekkers, the Dutch top criminal who has been at the top of our most wanted list for some time now. The involvement of this party is said to have been limited . However, the judiciary states that Leijdekkers directed Nathan Steveniers in the import of batches of coke. This Nathan is a son of the Belgian basketball legend Jan Willem 'Willy' Steveniers, and also a leader of the hard core of the football club Royal Antwerp.

Rolled up
Together, the organizations would have arranged companies and people to import tons of drugs. After all, insiders in the port had to be arranged for this, as well as companies in South America and Europe to import the drugs. The upper and underworlds were completely intertwined, it seems. The criminal organizations exchanged resources and knowledge, often for payment, to circumvent the investigative services and customs.

At some point, the police tracked down their old colleague Van Mechelen and installed listening devices in his car. This happened during the corona period, a period in which 'Uncle Willy' arranged a lot of things from his car. And so he unintentionally exposed the entire structure of the criminal association.