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Delays on thousands of deliveries after PostNL depots raided

The logo of PostNL pictured on the side of a delivery van. (BELGA PHOTO PHILIPPE FRANCOIS)
05:44 23/11/2021

Raids by social security officials and customs officers on three PostNL depots in Mechelen, Wommelgem and Ardoye on Monday led to the closure of the Wommelgem location and the subsequent delay of delivery for thousands of packages.

The raids were carried out after intelligence was received on undeclared workers operating at the sites and irregular contracts.

At the PostNL depot in Wommelgem, officials uncovered 10 offences for undeclared work by drivers and 10 other offences concerning part-time work. The depot has therefore been sealed until further notice, and some vans have been impounded.

The depot housed about 5% of the total number of packages to be delivered by the company on Monday. A spokesperson for the postal company would not specify the exact quantity but PostNL distributes about 100,000 packages on a busy day, so the number of packages could reach at least 5,000 units. This number of packages to be processed could be higher due to the increase in deliveries related to the upcoming Black Friday period of discounted shopping.

PostNL says it is exploring solutions and is looking at other delivery options. No details on the timing of delivery of these packages have been released.

Written by Nick Amies