Thirty natural and legal persons will have to answer charges of forgery, use of false documents, money laundering and participation in a criminal organization. Another 26 legal entities and 25 natural persons who were customers of the organization will also stand trial, the Halle-Vilvoorde public prosecutor’s office reported on Monday.

    The investigation started in late 2019, when several couriers were arrested at Brussels Airport. In each case, they were Belgians and Germans of Turkish origin, who tried to transport large quantities of euros and British pounds to Istanbul.

    Between September 2019 and January 2020, customs stopped five people carrying a total of £785,615. In July 2020, another person was stopped with £150,000.

    Since the couriers all acted in the same way, suspicions soon arose that a criminal organization was involved. Further investigation confirmed those suspicions and revealed that the cash couriers were likely part of a money-laundering organization operating internationally, run from Brussels and composed mainly of Belgian nationals of Turkish origin.

    The Halle-Vilvoorde Federal Judicial Police, in cooperation with Europol and police forces from several European countries, later stumbled on concrete evidence of an extensive, organized money-laundering circuit.

    Investigators found that the criminal organization offered its money-laundering services to individuals, companies and other criminal gangs from several European countries, including Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Spain.

    These funds presumably came from the illegal trade in drugs, counterfeit goods, tobacco, and other commodities.