Former Belgium international arrested in drugs trafficking probe
Former Belgium midfielder Radja Nainggolan has been arrested as part of an investigation into cocaine smuggling from South America to Europe via the port of Antwerp.
The Brussels prosecutors office said on Monday that thirty searches were carried out in the Antwerp province as well as in and around Brussels, and that Nainggolan was among those taken into custody.
No further information was given as the investigation and questioning are ongoing.
The probe relates to the smuggling of cocaine from South America to Antwerp and its redistribution in Belgium, the authorities said.
Nainggolan, 36, won 30 Belgium caps. He spent most of his club career in Italy at clubs including Roma and Inter Milan.
He is now at Belgian second division side Lokeren-Temse, who said on Monday they learnt of the investigation via news reports.
"We can only confirm that the player didn't take part in training this morning," Lokeren-Temse said. "The club respects the presumption of innocence and so cannot comment further."
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Conservative activists warned about the threat to free speech in Europe after they were arrested in Brussels, Belgium on Thursday for holding signs opposing transgender medical treatments for children. Chris Elston, better known as "Billboard Chris," and Alliance Defending Freedom International senior legal communications officer Lois McLatchie Miller spoke to Fox News Digital after they were released, hours after being harassed by a crowd and taken into police custody. Elston, well known for wearing billboards decrying transgender medical care for children out in public, stood out in the streets of the Belgian capital alongside McLatchie Miller. Both wore billboards with the messages, "Children are never born in the wrong body" and "Children cannot consent to puberty blockers." Elston travels the world to spread his message, which he says mostly receives positive feedback. But in Brussels, it was mostly opposition. Police Arrest 'Billboard Chris,' Christian Activist In Eu Capital For Denouncing Child Transgender Treatments "It was pretty much non-stop abuse and harassment," Elston told Fox News Digital. "It quickly became apparent that this is probably the most woke city I have been to in my five years of campaigning, and nothing else comes close." Read On The Fox News App "We had a man throw a glass bottle at us. It landed behind me, but right in front of a five-year-old girl who was walking with her dad, smashed on the ground. People were telling me I needed to get out of there because Antifa was going to come, and no matter where we walked in the city, we were getting a lot of grief," he added. After one man continually harassed McLatchie Miller, the pair called the police for protection. Instead, they were told if they didn't remove their signs, they would be arrested. 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