The Albany Gazette - Scores jailed in Belgium drug smuggling mega-trial

More than 120 defendants from Belgium, Albania, Colombia and North Africa were accused of having participated in a multinational cocaine and cannabis trafficking enterprise after investigators cracked encrypted messaging apps.

Judges issued sentences totalling more than 700 years in a case that shone a spotlight on Belgium's role as Europe's gateway for drugs.

Only nine of the accused were acquitted.

Another 119 received prison terms ranging from a few months to more than 15 years on a range of charges including taking part in a criminal organisation, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and attempted extortion.

The court also ordered the confiscation of assets for tens of millions of euros.

"It is an extremely harsh judgment," Gilles Vanderbeck, a lawyer representing one of the alleged ringleaders, told AFP, noting the low number of exonerations and suspended sentences.

His client, Algerian Abdelwahab Guerni, was jailed for 17 years, the stiffest sentence handed down on Tuesday.

Guerni, a tall bald man, was among two dozen defendants who were led in handcuffs into a courtroom in the former headquarters of military alliance NATO in Brussels.

They sat in the dock faced by a line of police officers as judges read out the long list of verdicts.

Other accused who had been bailed pending the trial, sat in court to await their fate.

- 'I played, I lost' -

Albanian citizen Eridan Munoz Guerrero, another suspected leader, received a 14-year term.

Accused of running several cocaine laboratories in Belgium, Munoz Guerrero had admitted his guilt at the start of the trial telling the court: "Your honour, I played, I lost."

His lawyer, Nathalie Gallant, described the verdict as "fair", adding her client's sentence reflected his cooperation with the authorities.

The trafficking ring -- active from 2017 to late 2022 -- involved numerous criminal gangs and was dismantled following raids by police in Belgium, Germany and Italy.

Prosecutors had asked for jail terms of up to 20 years for some of the accused.

They said drugs were transported in containers from South America and Morocco and smuggled through ports in Belgium, notably the giant port of Antwerp, as well as The Netherlands, Germany and France before being sold across Europe.

The case was in part based on evidence uncovered after investigators cracked the covert Sky ECC and EncroChat apps, which the gangs used to communicate.

By breaking into the messaging tools, police said they were able to peer into the unguarded planning and carrying out of drug smuggling operations.

- 'Publicity stunt' -

Belgian authorities have portrayed the trial as the latest blow to drug smuggling gangs.

But some defence lawyers decried it as a "publicity stunt", accusing prosecutors of having bundled together disconnected cases into one eye-catching trial.

"The fact that they were all tried together gave an impression of grandeur and probably allowed for the sentences to be increased," Vanderbeck said.

Prosecutors insist there was a "structure and hierarchy" between the various criminal groups involved and clear illegal commercial links.

The judgment was initially expected on September 2 but was postponed after an objection by one of the defendants.

Lawyers for some defendants said they were considering appealing, but needed to first read the judgment, which ran more than 1,000 pages.

"This was one of the largest criminal trials in the country's history," the Brussels court said in a statement, adding its organisation had been "a real challenge" given the number of people involved.

(J.Torres--TAG)