(Adnkronos) – A man was arrested today at Gare du Midi railway station in Brussels, as he was getting off a train and was in possession of a Kalashnikov-type weapon which he was carrying in a bag. According to what Afp learned from a source close to the investigation, the arrest took place around 9.30 am. The suspect – reported the newspaper ‘La Dernière Heure’ – was getting off a train coming from France. The Brussels public prosecutor’s office refused to release any comment.
Belgian Interior Minister Bernard Quintin welcomed the arrest, without referring to the weapon found or the suspect’s profile. “I can confirm that an arrest took place this morning. This demonstrates that strengthening patrols in railway stations with the help of our military is necessary and must be continued, if not extended,” Quintin declared in a statement sent to the press.
According to the source close to the investigation, a customs check allowed the discovery of the weapon the suspect was hiding. The latter was stopped by railway police. The arrest comes amid authorities’ concerns about the extent of armed violence linked to drug trafficking in Brussels. At the end of August, the Belgian capital was the scene of a new wave of shootings – often linked to rivalries between criminal gangs – one of which targeted a neighborhood police station, machine-gunned with a Kalashnikov by two hooded individuals.
