Antwerp police foil suspected attack on home in Wilrijk

Police are believed to have foiled a planned attack on a house in the Belgian city of Antwerp on Thursday morning. Attacks on homes linked to drug trafficking have increased in recent months in the port city.

A police surveillance operator noticed a suspicious man in front of a house on the Boomsesteenweg in Wilrijk at around 5 am. He was reportedly trying to hang a banner on the front of the house, which is reminiscent of the modus operandi of recent drug-related attacks in and around Antwerp.

When alerted, the police quickly went to the scene and arrested the suspect. A firearm, which the man had allegedly discarded, was found nearby. Police suspect that the Dutchman was planning to shoot at the residence with this weapon.

A second suspect, also of Dutch origin, was arrested about 50 metres away in the Valkstraat, where he was waiting in a car with Dutch numberplates. The vehicle was towed away to look for evidence.

An investigation has been opened by the Federal Judicial Police. It will have to determine whether this alleged attempted attack on the outskirts of Antwerp is drug-related. Attacks on homes linked to drug trafficking have increased in recent months in the port city.

In early January, an 11-year-old girl was shot and killed in the Antwerp district of Merksem in what Antwerp Mayor Bart De Wever said was “a drug-related dispute.”

^{#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO JONAS ROOSENS}