For the first time since being placed under police protection, the federal Minister of Justice confided in journalists today. Victim of threats and an aborted kidnapping attempt, Vincent Van Quickenborne explains to us what his daily life has become. He also returns to the fight that must continue to be waged in Belgium against drug trafficking and organized crime.
“At the moment, I’m doing well, I’m sleeping well.” These are the first words expressed by the Federal Minister of Justice during his interview, this Tuesday at the end of the afternoon, to our journalists. For the first time since being put under police protection, Vincent Van Quickenborne confided in his daily life from an undisclosed location: “I have never felt so safehe said. But of course, we are well watched by the police and security guards. They do an outstanding job.”
The Belgian Minister admits, however, that the situation is not so easy to manage for his family. “As Minister of Justice, I have a step back. I have been working on these files for 2 years. But for my family, it is difficult to grasp. They did not choose this situation, it is not obvious.” Vincent Van Quickenborne is the father of two young children aged 3 and 6, for whom it is not easy to understand. “We explained to them that there are bad bandits who threaten dad, but they should not be afraid, because the police protect him”he explains.
Being under police protection, the Minister of Justice ensures to continue to work “with great conviction” most “other”. He is, in fact, forced to follow his meetings and perform his tasks remotely. And the threat situation hanging over it is assessed “hour by hour”. “Of course, I follow the opinions given by the services.”
Belgium facing narco-terrorism
What is the reason for these threats? Why is he a target for the drug world? Vincent Van Quickenborne tells us about the successes brought about by the dismantling of an encrypted network used by the drug mafia, Sky ECC. Some 1,200 people were thus arrested. “Thanks to Sky ECC, we were able to explode the drug networks at the highest level, for the first time. It shows that many of these drug lords are hiding in Dubai among other places and we have concluded treaties with these countries to extradite them. We are convinced that we must continue this fight”he said.
According to the Minister, Belgium is facing real narco-terrorism, not only in the province of Antwerp but throughout the country. Hence the need to take other measures. In particular the appointment of a prosecutor focused on drug problems. “There will be a port prosecutor in Antwerp who will direct everything. We will make our ports even more secure, if we give in to criminals as a society, we will find ourselves in South American conditions, that is to say a narco state or the drug mafia and above the laws and dictate everything. Luckily that’s not the case with us and I’m sure it will never happen.”
Until when will Vincent Van Quickenborne remain hidden and under police protection? The question currently has no answer. There will probably be more arrests in this case, for which 4 people have so far been arrested.