Four Dutch nationals have been arrested for their role in what has been called a ‘very serious’ plot to kidnap Belgium’s justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne.

Three men aged 20, 29 and 48, were arrested on Friday night in The Hague and Leidschendam. A fourth man, aged 21, was picked up in The Hague on Sunday afternoon.

According to Belgian media, the arrests followed the discovery of a car with Dutch number plates close to the minister’s house in Courtray (Kortrijk). The car contained Kalashnikov rifles, other weapons and tie ribs, which can be used to bind someone’s hands and feet.

The minister himself, who was warned about his personal safety last week, has said that the threats came from ‘organised crime’.

The AD reported on Monday that Belgium is increasingly being confronted with drugs-related gangland crime and that at least 10 people have been arrested in the Netherlands in recent months with links to Antwerp drugs gangs.

Belgium has asked for the four to be extradited.