Flor Bressers, a 39-year-old alleged major cocaine smuggler and one of Europe's most wanted men, has gone on trial in Brussels alongside over 30 suspects.

The investigation into this extensive drug network began in 2020 after police seized 3.2 tonnes of cocaine at Rotterdam port, hidden in manganese ore from Brazil and destined for Antwerp.

The trial was relocated from Bruges to Brussels' NATO headquarters for security reasons, as the defendants are considered flight risks.

Major European ports like Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Le Havre are increasingly dealing with cocaine imports, with Antwerp now serving as Europe's primary entry point.

Prosecutors believe that the 2020 Rotterdam seizure was just a small part of a much larger operation that imported tonnes of cocaine between 2019 and 2020.

Another key suspect, Sérgio Roberto de Carvalho, a Brazilian in his 60s, is alleged to have earned approximately €200 million from the drug network.

Bressers was detained in Zurich in February 2022 and extradited to Belgium, while De Carvalho was arrested in Hungary in 2023 and is now jailed in Belgium.

Prosecutors estimate that the entire cocaine smuggling network earned around half a billion euros.

Bressers is accused of earning €230 million from ten cocaine shipments, some organized from a yacht in Seychelles during 2020.