Brussels Drug Gangs Exploit Social Media to Recruit Moroccan Minors

"We actually have two categories of young people. We have minors who are from neighborhoods here in Brussels. They all have more or less the same profile. They are idle youth, out of school, who are picked up by criminal groups. Alongside that, we also have unaccompanied foreign minors (UFM) who are recruited from their countries of origin," explains Eric Garbar, who heads the center of expertise on human trafficking for the federal judicial police, to RTBF.

According to him, there are networks in the countries of origin - Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, or even Afghanistan - that bring these young people. "It’s cheap labor because it’s easy to manipulate," the expert further explains. "When they are arrested by the justice system, being minors, they are quickly released and therefore quickly reusable." When arrested, these minors are not of great use to the police. Most of the time, they are not able to provide much information to the police.

Belgium is not the only country facing this problem. Minors are involved in more than 70% of criminal activities including drug trafficking, according to a recent Europol report. According to Eric Garbar, "social networks are used to recruit them whether here in Belgium or abroad. There are advertisements, there are YouTube channels, groups on Telegram, Signal, or WhatsApp." Recruiters also use encrypted messaging applications.

"It’s also a good way to control them through video exchanges, geolocation. It allows those who exploit them to have permanent control over them," indicates the expert. How are minors recruited from Brussels neighborhoods? "Once they arrive in the neighborhoods here, they are progressively taken care of," details Eric Garbar. "They are housed, fed. They receive a little money to meet their needs and they end up being initiated into drug trafficking." Criminal groups thus fulfill a certain "social function."

While some minors are taken care of by institutions until their social reintegration, unaccompanied foreign minors are left adrift. Very few structures take care of them. But there is still hope. In Brussels, Samu social is preparing to open a center dedicated to them.