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🇧🇪 Belgium /Crime & Justice

Leopoldsburg soldier receives suspended sentence for ammunition and drugs at home

From VRT NWS · () Dutch

Translated from Dutch and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

Newswire From a news agency Outcome reported
  • A court in Hasselt sentenced the soldier to 15 months in prison, suspended, and fined him €10,000, with €8,000 suspended.
  • Police found ammunition, 126 ecstasy pills, speed, marijuana, hashish, cocaine and heroin linked to the man.
  • The court imposed probation conditions requiring treatment for drug use, continued employment and urine tests, and found indications that he had dealt drugs.

A Belgian soldier from Leopoldsburg received a suspended 15-month prison sentence and a €10,000 fine after authorities found ammunition and a large quantity of drugs at his home. The court suspended €8,000 of the fine.

The judge imposed probation conditions requiring the 30-year-old to stop using drugs, remain employed and submit to urine tests. The court also confiscated a nunchaku.

The case began when police stopped the man’s vehicle in Retie following an automatic number-plate recognition alert. He was wearing his service uniform and had his minor son in the car. Officers found a cartridge in his service bag in the trunk. Police said they had information suggesting possible involvement in drug dealing.

In my view, these drugs are not for personal use.

— ProsecutorThe prosecutor argued that the quantity and variety of drugs suggested distribution rather than personal consumption.

A drug dog found no narcotics in the vehicle, but an empty bucket smelled strongly of cannabis. The vehicle was seized and towed. An employee at the towing yard later found a nunchaku and almost a gram of speed inside and reported them to police.

A search of the man’s home uncovered 126 ecstasy pills, 138 grams of speed, 60 grams of marijuana, 158 grams of hashish, several doses of cocaine and 15 grams of heroin. The prosecutor said, “In my view, these drugs are not for personal use.” The man said he had bought the drugs in one batch, while the judge rejected his explanation that a precision scale was used only to weigh medicine for his chickens.

I find possession of ammunition in combination with drugs troubling for a soldier.

— ProsecutorThe prosecutor described the combination of ammunition and narcotics as especially concerning given the defendant’s military role.
About this summary

Originally published by VRT NWS in Dutch. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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