four detainees and a car full of weapons

The police have arrested four people for planning the kidnapping of the Belgian Minister of Justice, Vincent VanQuickenborne. Those arrested carried several weapons in their vehicle with which they intended to commit this act.

Van Quickenborne was warned last Thursday by the federal prosecutor of a kidnapping plan against him. Since then, the Minister of Justice has been placed under tight security and will not participate in public events in the coming days.

The first detainee was a 21-year-old Dutchman. Three other Dutchmen were also arrested on Dutch territory last Friday night when various weapons were found in a car parked outside the house of the Dutch Minister of Justice in the Flemish city of Kortrijk.

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According to the Belgian media VRT inside the car they found Kalashnikovs, firearms and two cans of gasoline.

The exact details of the threat remain unclear. Although there has been talk from the beginning of an attempted kidnapping, some Belgian media link the events with a drug mafia.

Following the arrests, Van Quickenborne posted a message on social media confirming that he would not return to public life for several days. “Let me be clear: the people behind this are achieving the opposite of what they intend and this reinforces my conviction that we must keep fighting. Criminals feel cornered. That feeling is the right one,” he wrote.

Belgian Prime Minister, Alexander DeCroo, said the threat was “totally unacceptable” and warned that “no one will intimidate us.”

Belgium has been taking further steps to crack down on organized crime in recent weeks, announcing a plan that gives local authorities more power to tackle violence.