World

Belgium: Criminal Networks Use Airbnb Rentals to Hide Drugs and Cash

Herz — World Desk · 11 August 2026 at 08:07 · 30s summary · 3 min read

The essentials

A growing number of criminal organisations in Belgium are using short-term rentals to hide cash, drugs, weapons or people, according to national drug commissioner Ine Van Wymersch. The properties are also used to store and package narcotics. During a weekend in early August, police seized 3.3kg of cocaine and €4,845 in cash from an Airbnb apartment in central Brussels. Belgian authorities have no precise estimate of the scale of the practice. Airbnb says criminal bookings represent a tiny minority and that it uses artificial intelligence to detect suspicious activity.

Short-term rentals are being used to hide, store and package drugs.
Police recently seized 3.3kg of cocaine from an Airbnb apartment in Brussels.
Belgian authorities have no precise estimate of the scale of the practice.
Airbnb says it detects suspicious bookings and reports problematic guests.

What is known

A growing number of criminal organisations are exploiting short-term rentals in Belgium, The Guardian reports, citing national drug commissioner Ine Van Wymersch.

The properties are used to conceal cash, drugs, weapons or people, as well as to store and package narcotics. Belgian authorities have no precise estimate of the scale of this criminal use.

Van Wymersch says flexible booking and cancellation policies allow traffickers to secure accommodation around the uncertain arrival of shipments, including those moving between Antwerp and Marseille.

Cocaine and cash seized in central Brussels

During a weekend in early August, police searched an Airbnb apartment in central Brussels that was suspected of being used to store and package drugs.

Officers seized 3.3kg of cocaine and €4,845 in cash from the property.

In 2024, 11 people were convicted over a major drug-trafficking operation between Belgium and the United Kingdom. Drugs valued at €21 million had been seized from an Airbnb rental in Staden, West Flanders, in connection with the case.

Airbnb's response

Clément Eulry, Airbnb's head for France and the Benelux region, says criminal bookings account for a tiny minority of the millions of reservations processed by the company each year.

According to Eulry, Airbnb uses artificial intelligence among its methods for detecting suspicious bookings and reports cases involving problematic guests to police and local authorities.

How online commerce can assist criminal networks

Van Wymersch says the growth of online commerce has made organised crime considerably easier through anonymous email accounts, encrypted communications, cryptocurrencies and widespread parcel deliveries.

She warns that delivery companies can also be exploited because vans arriving and parcels changing hands have become an ordinary sight.

Belgium's struggle with cocaine trafficking

Van Wymersch became Belgium's first national drug commissioner in 2023, after Antwerp emerged as one of Europe's main entry points for cocaine.

Her appointment followed a wave of drug-related violence and threats across Belgium.

In 2022, Belgium's justice minister at the time lived under police protection after authorities uncovered an alleged plot to kidnap him.

Antwerp has experienced grenade attacks, while an 11-year-old girl was shot dead in a conflict between rival trafficking gangs.

Last year, an anonymous investigating judge spent four months in a secure house and warned that Belgium risked becoming a narco-state. Van Wymersch maintains that the risk remains if no action is taken.

Targeting criminal money

Van Wymersch's strategy prioritises targeting criminal funds and small businesses used for money laundering, including hair salons, nail bars and night shops.