Belgium dismantles drugs ring with links to Africa

BRUSSELS - Belgium has charged 10 people with trafficking heroin and cocaine into Europe and North America, after raids on what it said was a smuggling ring with links to Africa.

Prosecutors in Leuven, near Brussels, said on Friday that some 100 police had carried out the raids in the two places this month, as part of an investigation that began last year into an international organisation possibly smuggling hundreds of kilogrammes of drugs per year.

"This led to the dismantling of an international drugs trafficking operation led from our country, which resulted in the detention of suspects living in Leuven and Brussels," prosecutors said in a statement.

The investigation also included drugs finds resulting from a request for information from Canadian authorities.

The gang, whose members were from Tanzania, Somalia, Rwanda and Burundi but living in Belgium, relied on couriers carrying drugs either swallowed or hidden in clothing or luggage.

Prosecutors said that of the 10 charged, three were Belgian nationals and one Dutch.