The Belgian National Travel Targeting Centre (NTTC) made 80 arrests in 2025 using advance passenger information and PNR analytics, according to figures released on 5 April by The Brussels Times. Analysts sifted through nearly 39.6 million travel movements across air, rail and—newly added—international coach services. Their algorithms generated 4,087 alerts, triggering 313 interventions that culminated in arrests, detentions or interviews. Over half of the arrests were drug-related, while others involved organised crime, parental abduction and two terrorism cases. Customs follow-ups led to seizures of more than 2.1 tonnes of narcotics—quadruple the 2024 haul—along with thousands of contraband cigarettes and €172,000 in undeclared gold. Authorities credit the jump to integrating bus travel data after mid-2025, giving investigators a fuller picture of multi-modal smuggling routes.
![Passenger-Data Analytics Drove 80 Arrests in 2025, Belgian Report Reveals]()
Companies needing extra assurance can tap VisaHQ’s Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) for real-time visa requirements, passport validity checks and API best practices. The service streamlines document verification and name-matching, reducing the chance that a simple spelling error lands an employee in an NTTC secondary screening.
For companies moving high-value mobile teams through Brussels or Antwerp, the findings signal tighter scrutiny of passenger manifests and greater likelihood of secondary questioning, especially for routes flagged as high-risk. Travel managers should ensure employees’ booking names exactly match passport data and remind staff that Belgian law allows API retention for up to five years. The NTTC says it will integrate biometric hits from the EU’s forthcoming Entry/Exit System later this year, potentially increasing proactive detentions. Data-privacy advocates have called for stronger oversight, but the Interior Ministry argues the results justify the programme’s expansion.
Companies needing extra assurance can tap VisaHQ’s Belgium portal (https://www.visahq.com/belgium/) for real-time visa requirements, passport validity checks and API best practices. The service streamlines document verification and name-matching, reducing the chance that a simple spelling error lands an employee in an NTTC secondary screening.
For companies moving high-value mobile teams through Brussels or Antwerp, the findings signal tighter scrutiny of passenger manifests and greater likelihood of secondary questioning, especially for routes flagged as high-risk. Travel managers should ensure employees’ booking names exactly match passport data and remind staff that Belgian law allows API retention for up to five years. The NTTC says it will integrate biometric hits from the EU’s forthcoming Entry/Exit System later this year, potentially increasing proactive detentions. Data-privacy advocates have called for stronger oversight, but the Interior Ministry argues the results justify the programme’s expansion.
