Many attribute the increase in crime to the increase in drug trafficking.
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The Kingdom of Belgium, once one of the most prosperous countries in Europe, has today become the center of the Old World drug trade, and Brussels is a veritable gathering place, writes Politico. One of the most deprived areas of the Belgian capital is the area around the South Midi train station, where, it seems, it should be full of police and cameras. However, it became dangerous to show up there at night. Broken car windows, constant pickpockets, bicycle thefts, fights between alcoholics and drug addicts have become a typical urban plot around the station.
According to statistics, in 2021, the police recorded 3,320 crimes in the police station area, and 3,447 crimes during the COVID 2020 period, with robbery and extortion being the most common crimes. The data for 2022 is not yet complete, but in the first nine months 2,204 crimes were committed. And according to the Belgian newspaper De Standaard, almost as many crimes have been committed in the station area as in the 13 stations of the Flemish cities combined.
Many attribute the increase in crime to the increase in drug trafficking. In the last five years, the number of drug-related crimes has increased considerably. In 2021, 372 such crimes were reported in the station area (more than one per day), almost a third more than a year earlier.
The reason for these problems is obvious. In Belgium, the consumption of drugs, especially amphetamines and cocaine, has increased considerably in recent years. The city was flooded with “crack”, a cheap mixture of cocaine with other substances that is consumed by smoking.
As the French newspaper Le Monde writes, the situation has reached such a magnitude that Belgium may become a “narco-state”. In addition to Brussels, potions dealers organize real wars in the country’s main port, Antwerp, through which drugs worth between 50 and 60 billion euros enter annually.
Meanwhile, last year the Brussels City Council inaugurated the city’s first secure drug center, near the South Station. At this location, consumers can access clean consumables, monitor their health, consult with nurses and social workers.
