On September 23, 2022, a plan to kidnap Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickborne was foiled and resulted in the arrest of three Dutch men. Two days later, a fourth man was arrested in The Hague.
Four Dutch Conspirators Arrested in Failed Plot to Kidnap Belgian Justice Minister
Leading up to September 23, authorities received word of a threat against the Belgian politician. On Friday, September 23, a vehicle with AKs, other guns, and bottles of gasoline inside was discovered parked on the street outside of the politician’s home.
As a result, the security around Justice Minister Van Quickborne has been tightened. Since the specifics surrounding the kidnapping attempt haven’t been elaborated, the media in Belgium have floated a couple of reasons including drug traffickers wanting to take Van Quickborne out.
This stems from the Justice Minister’s focus on organized crime which has resulted in Belgium becoming one of the hubs of the coke trade in Europe. Efforts by law enforcement has seen large amounts of drugs taken out of rotation, raising the ire of criminal groups in the region.
Van Quickborne has vowed to continue pursuing traffickers and crime rings with even more force saying that the kidnappers’ actions had the opposite intent of intimidating him.
The four would-be kidnappers were all nabbed in the Netherlands but are expected to be extradited to Belgium.
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