Belgian Justice Minister Threatened With Weapons, Explosives
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BRUSSELS/AMSTERDAM (Worthy News) – A car with heavy weapons and explosives was discovered overnight near the home of Belgium’s Belgium’s Minister of Justice, Vincent Van Quickenborne, authorities say.
The Dutch car was found near his home in Kortrijk, according to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office in Belgium.
Three suspects were detained in the Netherlands the night from Friday to Saturday, Dutch media reported. More details were not immediately released.
But the arrests came amid an increase in cross-border organized crime in the Netherlands and neighboring Belgium, including the killings of prominent Dutch lawyer Derk Wiersum and Dutch investigative journalist Peter R. de Vries.
Both men were allegedly killed by suspects linked to the Dutch-Moroccan criminal gang known as the Mocro Maffia.
Prosecutors have described the gang, whose alleged leader Ridouan Taghi is currently on trial in Amsterdam, as a “well-oiled killing machine” with politicians also being threatened.
Minister Van Quickenborne won’t participate in several planned activities “for the time being,” the Belgian Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office said.