A completely unusual find in a ministerial office.
Following a search carried out in December, the Belgian authorities discovered no less than 50 sachets of cocaine in the office of the Minister of Education Caroline Désir, reveals La Derniere Heure.
According to information from the Belgian media, a member of the minister's cabinet was arrested before this home visit.
Around 10,000 euros were also found with this man, Mekki Van Haelen, who appeared in the minister's cabinet as being in charge of the Commissary.
The information had been kept secret until now.
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The drug therefore did not belong to Caroline Désir but to this man and was therefore obviously not intended for her personal consumption, but rather for cocaine trafficking.
He has since been placed under arrest warrant and remanded in custody at Haren prison.
The DH reveals that this man is none other than the son of a socialist figure known in the country: Fadila Laanan, former Minister of Culture and current Brussels MP.
Fired on the spot
“On the evening of Wednesday, December 15, we were informed that Mr. Van Haelen, who held the position of treasurer within the firm, was under arrest as part of an investigation into drug trafficking.
On Thursday, December 16, a dismissal procedure for breach of trust was carried out in compliance with the regulations applicable to ministerial offices,” specified Jean-François Mathieu, spokesperson for Caroline Désir’s office.
Following this episode, the minister and her chief of staff decided to proceed with the immediate dismissal of Mekki Van Haelen, as Caroline Désir explained in a series of messages published this Thursday on the social network X.
(1/6) On the evening of Wednesday, December 15, I was informed that an assistant in charge of equipment and logistics at the office was under arrest as part of an investigation into drug trafficking. drug.
— CarolineDesir (@CarolineDesir) January 25, 2024
In the rest of the messages, the minister who therefore has nothing to do with this story even explains that she contributed to this alleged drug trafficking breaking out.
“By mutual agreement with [the investigators], the chief of staff opened the doors of the collaborator’s office and all the premises to which he had access as of Friday, December 17,” before concluding by specifying that the investigators “ have discovered nothing else and have not wished to hear from any other member of the cabinet since.
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