Belgium’s ‘most wanted criminal’ arrested in Germany
Belgian criminal Tom Michielsen has been arrested in Berlin. Michielsen, from Antwerp province, had been wanted by Belgium and the Netherlands for money laundering and drug trafficking since 2020 and was on Europol’s most wanted list.
Michielsen was arrested on Thursday night, following a joint operation by specialist police officer in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands and the public prosecutors in Antwerp and the Netherlands.
He still has to serve eight years in prison in Belgium and 11 years in the Netherlands for money laundering and trafficking cocaine and heroin. Both countries have requested his extradition.
In early 2023, police received information that Michielsen was in Germany. It then emerged that he had been living in Berlin under a false identity.
A German court will rule on his extradition.