Prosecutors Outline Extensive Drug Network
Flor Bressers, a Belgian national, has gone on trial in Brussels accused of running a large-scale cocaine trafficking operation. Prosecutors allege he profited around €230m from ten shipments, while Brazilian co-defendant Sérgio Roberto de Carvalho is said to have earned nearly €200m. Authorities estimate that the 30 defendants on trial collectively accumulated close to €500m in illicit revenue.
Rotterdam Seizure Triggered Investigation
The case stems from a 2020 interception in Rotterdam, where customs officers found 3.2 tonnes of cocaine hidden inside a manganese ore shipment. Officials contend the seizure exposed a wider smuggling network moving substantial quantities of drugs into Europe. Due to security concerns, the trial was relocated from Bruges to the fortified Justitia complex in Brussels.
International Arrests Precede Proceedings
Bressers was apprehended in Zurich in February 2022 and later extradited to Belgium, while De Carvalho was arrested in Hungary in 2023. Among the accused are a Dutch lawyer and a former London banker, both implicated in laundering the network’s profits. Defence lawyers are expected to challenge the prosecution’s financial figures and dispute allegations that their clients played leadership roles in the organisation.
