A Belgian tourist enjoying a stay in Cartagena, Colombia, turned out to be one of Belgium’s most wanted fugitives. Alec Louis Leonora Van Regenmortel, born in Antwerp in 1997, was arrested on September 11 at an upscale condominium in Marbella, a neighborhood in the Bolívar region, just eight days after Interpol issued a red notice at Belgium’s request. The alert sought his “location and detention with a view to extradition” so he could serve a prison sentence.
Colombia’s Criminal Investigation Directorate (Dijín), working with Interpol and Colombian immigration authorities, tracked him down remarkably quickly. According to case files obtained by the newspaper El Tiempo, Van Regenmortel’s record includes drug trafficking, illegal weapons possession, and a violent altercation.
Belgian records show that between February and June 2020, he sold and distributed cannabis, cocaine and MDMA around Antwerp’s judicial district, at times making deliveries by motorcycle. That same year, he was caught driving without a license — not for the first time — and police found two .320-caliber bullet cartridges and a shell casing during a search. In January 2021, he again drove despite a court-ordered ban that had just taken effect.
The most serious incident occurred in February 2021, when a fight broke out on the docks of the Scheldt River in Antwerp, leaving one person stabbed and shot twice.
Read the full investigation at El Tiempo.
Source: El prontuario del belga que cayó veraneando en Cartagena ocho días después de que Interpol activara su búsqueda (eltiempo.com). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Sidney Paget.