Shootings surge as drug gangs torment Brussels

Now Murielle and her dog Chéva are sitting at that exact spot, just across the street: "We can still see the trace of the pool of blood."Murielle is 70, and hopes peace soon returns to her street."I like it here. It's like a little village inside the city. Even the drug dealers used to be polite and decent. I would just tell them to go further away and they'd say, 'Yes, ok mama!'"Murielle says the drug dealers used to be polite in this part of the city - but not any moreDrug dealing is happening in plain sight here. Only five minutes after I arrive, I witness a transaction.A buyer walks up to the seller, shakes their hand, and walks away with the drugs. Crack has become widely consumed amongst the poorest in this area of Brussels."Things have changed in the past six months," says Murielle. "The business has intensified. Sometimes you even see consumers queuing to buy drugs. And now gangs are fighting over this spot."A successful drug-dealing point in Brussels nets up to €50,000 ($58,000; £43,000) per day or more for the dealer, according to the chief of Brussels-south-police" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="195547" data-entity-type="organization">Brussels South Police, Jurgen de Landsheer.