Police in Belgium started a huge operation targeting drug traffickers on Tuesday involving more than 1,200 officers.
Searches were carried out from 5am, centred in the province of Antwerp, home to one of Europe’s biggest ports. Broadcaster RTBF said the focus was a drug smuggling network with international connections.
The Belgian port city is one of Europe’s main ports of entry for cocaine, with thousands of containers reaching Antwerp every day.
Trafficking in the city has led to a surge of violence with frequent gun battles and grenade attacks.
A suspected drug trafficker was arrested in Dubai last year over claims that he was linked to the violent turf wars. He was later released by police.
The operation on Tuesday came after authorities in Belgium and three other countries last year dismantled a criminal drug trafficking network that shipped cocaine worth hundreds of millions of dollars into Western Europe.
The investigation, which began when a container with 2.8 tons of cocaine was found last year in Antwerp, uncovered an international network with connections in at least four European countries and South America.
European police forces have arrested hundreds of top-tier criminals after police cracked an encrypted messaging service used to organise major drug smuggling operations and gangland hits.
French and Dutch police said in July that they were harvesting data from the criminals' EncroChat service.
Stree
Producer: Maddock Films, Jio Movies
Director: Amar Kaushik
Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Banerjee
Rating: 3.5
Tips for taking the metro
- set out well ahead of time
- make sure you have at least Dh15 on you Nol card, as there could be big queues for top-up machines
- enter the right cabin. The train may be too busy to move between carriages once you're on
- don't carry too much luggage and tuck it under a seat to make room for fellow passengers
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Other acts on the Jazz Garden bill
Sharrie Williams
The American singer is hugely respected in blues circles due to her passionate vocals and songwriting. Born and raised in Michigan, Williams began recording and touring as a teenage gospel singer. Her career took off with the blues band The Wiseguys. Such was the acclaim of their live shows that they toured throughout Europe and in Africa. As a solo artist, Williams has also collaborated with the likes of the late Dizzy Gillespie, Van Morrison and Mavis Staples.
Lin Rountree
An accomplished smooth jazz artist who blends his chilled approach with R‘n’B. Trained at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, Rountree formed his own band in 2004. He has also recorded with the likes of Kem, Dwele and Conya Doss. He comes to Dubai on the back of his new single Pass The Groove, from his forthcoming 2018 album Stronger Still, which may follow his five previous solo albums in cracking the top 10 of the US jazz charts.
Anita Williams
Dubai-based singer Anita Williams will open the night with a set of covers and swing, jazz and blues standards that made her an in-demand singer across the emirate. The Irish singer has been performing in Dubai since 2008 at venues such as MusicHall and Voda Bar. Her Jazz Garden appearance is career highlight as she will use the event to perform the original song Big Blue Eyes, the single from her debut solo album, due for release soon.
