Heavy security surrounded the court in Brussels as 39-year-old Flor Bressers, the alleged head of a vast cocaine-smuggling network, went on trial alongside more than 30 suspected accomplices. Once considered one of Europe’s most wanted men, Bressers is accused of orchestrating the importation of massive quantities of cocaine from South America into Europe.
Dressed in a sharp suit with slicked-back hair, Bressers cut a striking figure as he was escorted into court by heavily armed officers. Prosecutors claim he played a central role in a network that smuggled cocaine worth billions of shillings, often operating from luxurious hideouts, including a private yacht in Seychelles during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Investigators allege that Bressers earned at least Ksh35 billion (£199 million) from 10 major shipments. His alleged partner, Brazilian national Sérgio Roberto de Carvalho, is said to have made nearly Ksh30 billion (€200 million) from the same network. Together, the 30 defendants are suspected of generating as much as half a billion euros from the trade.
The case, originally set to begin in Bruges where the investigation started, was moved to NATO’s former headquarters in Brussels for security reasons, given the high-profile nature of the defendants and the risk of escape attempts.
The investigation was launched in 2020 following the seizure of 3.2 tonnes of cocaine at the Dutch port of Rotterdam. The drugs, hidden in a shipment of manganese ore from Brazil, were traced to a water treatment company in Antwerp that authorities believe was being used as a front. Several arrests in West Flanders and subsequent police operations in Belgium, Spain, and Dubai helped uncover the scale of the smuggling ring.
Bressers was arrested in Zurich in February 2022 and extradited later that year, while De Carvalho was captured in Hungary in 2023 and transferred to Belgium to face charges. Both men are accused of being the masterminds behind one of Europe’s largest cocaine-trafficking operations.
The trial highlights how Antwerp has emerged as the continent’s primary entry point for cocaine, with Rotterdam and France’s Le Havre also struggling to contain the relentless surge of narcotics entering Europe. Authorities believe the Rotterdam seizure was only a fraction of the group’s actual operations, suggesting tonnes more were trafficked between 2019 and 2020.
