“Fingerschneider” drug lord arrested in Switzerland Switzerland
One of Europe’s most wanted drug lords, a Belgian with a master’s degree in criminology, has been arrested in Switzerland after two years on the run.
Flor Bressers, 35, nicknamed ‘the finger cutter’ has been wanted since 2020 when he was sentenced to four years in prison for kidnapping, slashing with a razor and beating a Dutch florist who failed to sell drugs through the smuggling British customs.
He had previously been prosecuted in Limburg in 2010 for allegedly cutting off the finger of a Dutch criminal with a pair of pruning shears. He was acquitted for lack of evidence, but the alleged incident earned him his nickname.
Bressers has had numerous cases linked to a drug gang operating in Antwerp, which is believed to have smuggled tons of cocaine from South America to Europe.
He was on both a Belgian and a Europol’s Most Wanted List for kidnapping, deprivation of liberty and taking hostages as well as involvement in a criminal organization.
Bressers was believed to have been hiding in South Africa, but he was arrested in Zurich, where he was found with his partner and child. The Belgian authorities have requested his extradition.
Kristof Aerts, a spokesman for the Antwerp prosecutor’s office, said Bressers has been linked to ongoing judicial investigations in Antwerp, West Flanders and East Flanders.
He said: “Serious organized crime is the common thread here. This includes investigations into the international drug trade in which the violence occurred.
“Last night the fugitive was arrested in Switzerland. The arrest, carried out by special forces and with the help of other Swiss police forces, is the result of an intensive manhunt that lasted several months.”
Experts warn that the extreme violence of drug cartels operating in Mexico and Colombia has been exported to Europe in recent years.
Earlier this month, prosecutors in Amsterdam urged recreational drug users to consider the discovery of a soundproof torture chamber at Wouwse Plantage in Brabant, the Netherlands.
Inside the shipping container, detectives had found a converted dentist’s chair, complete with straps for tying arms and legs, finger clamps, scalpels, claw hammers, pliers, pruning shears, pruning shears, gas torches, cable ties, and duct tape.