Antwerp Drug War Escalates: Explosion Rocks Home of Convicted Cocaine Trafficker

The explosion occurred on Monday at 3 a.m., but the Antwerp police were alerted around 8:30 a.m. "We are on the scene, and the forensic laboratory as well as the DOVO demining service will comb through the premises," said Wouter Bruyns, spokesperson for the Antwerp police zone. No loss of human life was recorded. The house was apparently empty at the time of the explosion, Bruyns said, adding that in terms of material damage, only the front door of the house was damaged.

The police favor the theory of a settling of scores in the drug milieu, especially since one of the residents of the house is a well-known Moroccan drug trafficker to the justice services. Yousef "Bouchiar" E.Y. was sentenced in 2021 to three years in prison for attempting to steal 350 kilograms of cocaine from a company located in Merksem in 2018. To avoid his arrest, the 41-year-old Antwerp resident had rammed a roadblock, the police recall.

"Bouchiar," who participated in robberies in his youth, had been the target of several attacks. The car of his brother had been set on fire in 2019, and in December 2023, an explosive had destroyed the front door of the house of his parents in Hoboken.