Drug-dealing on Brussels metro prompts calls for more security

An eye-witness account of drug-dealing on a Brussels metro train has prompted calls for greater security on Brussels' public transport network.

“We're investing billions in a new metro, but we can't even manage to make it safe,” witness Dimitri Strobbe, who works for Brussels Mobility, wrote on social media, recounting a drug deal he witnessed between the Rogier and Ribaucourt stations.

“I saw this drug dealing in broad daylight, in front of everyone, including children. Last week someone was pushed on to the tracks. What next?”

Brussels public transport operator Stib is aware of the problem and has introduced a number of measures. Some 10 stations are considered to be at risk: Ribaucourt, Yser, Gare du Midi, Porte de Namur, Bourse, Anneessens, Botanique, Trône, Parc and Hôtel des Monnaies.

“With several neighbourhood committees, we have been raising the alarm for years,” Strobbe wrote on X.

In 2023, Stib's security service recorded more than 4,000 incidents involving drug addicts in Brussels metro stations.

“Everyone still needs to step up,” mobility minister Elke Van den Brandt (Groen) told Bruzz.

“That’s why we have provided additional people and resources. Additional staff are being deployed both in Stib's security services and to internalise the social intervention teams.”

Stib itself responded to the witnessed incident saying that “we’ve seen the post on X, but there has been no signalling to our security personnel, so they were unable to intervene at that moment”.

Spokesman Laurent Vermeersch explained that the security personnel's "authority is of course limited, but they do work well with the police. For example, the man who pushed someone on to the tracks at Ribaucourt metro station last week has since been arrested by the police".

Vermeersch acknowledged the drug problem in metro stations: “It’s a difficult issue to solve. We are making every effort to avoid such incidents. About 20 new security officers will start next week.”