Nearly 500 Belgians locked up abroad

There are 467 Belgians imprisoned abroad, according to reports from Sudpresse newspapers on Tuesday. The largest group is in France, with 91 Belgian detainees. Spain and Morocco have the next greatest number of Belgian prisoners, with 71 and 54 respectively, followed by Italy (23) and the UK (17).

The main reason for incarceration is drug trafficking, which is true for 249 of the 467 cases. Forty-two Belgians are in foreign jails on charges of manslaughter and 26 for physical violence. The number of Belgians in a foreign cell is fewer than in 2012, when 527 Belgians were locked up abroad.