Cocaine seizures at the port of Antwerp, the main gateway for illegal drugs into Europe, set a new record last year, as Belgian and Dutch authorities faced concerns about the power of violent international gangs.
Annual figures for drug busts in Belgium and the Netherlands were released on Tuesday, a day after an 11-year-old girl was shot dead in a gun attack on the Antwerp home of the city’s mayor as the latest outrage in an ongoing “drugs” crackdown. war”.
Belgium’s main container terminal is now seen as the biggest route for illegal drugs to Europe, with 109.9 tonnes seized in 2022 and an unknown but possibly greater number reaching the market.
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Seizures in 2022 increased from 89.5 tons last year. On the Dutch border, in Rotterdam and nearby Vlissingen, Dutch police fighting the same gang intercepted more than 52.5 tons. After Belgium and Spain, the Netherlands is the third largest drug gateway in Europe.
Belgian Finance Minister Vincent Van Peteghem, who oversees the customs service, and Dutch state secretary Aukje de Vries, announced the figures at an Antwerp press conference.
He hailed “strong cooperation” between neighboring authorities and pledged to hire 100 Belgian customs officers while investing 70 million euros ($75 million) in high-tech equipment.
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“For the Netherlands, spending over the next few years will be related to artificial intelligence, chemical detection and tracking containers,” the joint statement said.
European police have made several high-profile arrests after cracking down on encrypted text messaging networks used by gangs, and several large-scale drug busts in recent weeks.
– ‘War on Drugs’-
But the volume of cocaine found in Antwerp only increased and there were explosions and gunfire in the city’s neighborhoods as rival gangs settled scores.
On Monday, an 11-year-old girl was killed after an attacker opened fire, in what Antwerp mayor Bart De Wever called a “score settlement” between gangs.
“The drug war is on,” De Wever told local TV.
Belgian prosecutors say that in the past five years they have recorded more than 200 incidents of drug-related violence – mainly assaults and explosives thrown at homes.
These gangs, including the so-called “Mocro Maffia” that originated in the Moroccan community in the Netherlands, have become more ruthless in recent years.
In September last year, security was stepped up around Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne after four Dutch suspects were arrested for allegedly plotting to kidnap him.
Also read: Cocaine, meth in ‘record availability’ in the EU -report
Police sniffer dogs and frogs have been deployed at container terminals in Antwerp and Rotterdam, but authorities fear they are only intercepting 10 percent of illegal cargo.
In a separate announcement in the Netherlands, the Dutch authorities announced that the drugs seized at the port in 2022 have a value of 3.5 billion euros.
In Europe’s largest port, Rotterdam, seizures decreased in 2022, with 46.8 tons compared to 72.8 the previous year, but in the smaller Vlissingen, across the Scheldt estuary from Antwerp, 4,157 kilograms were intercepted in 2022, compared to 2,202 kilograms. .
Smugglers to the Netherlands appear to break down shipments into smaller packages, possibly spreading the risk of interception, but the biggest seizure is a 2.8-tonne shipment of frozen fish from Ecuador.
Big money for cocaine
European drug gangs cooperate with Latin American suppliers to bring cocaine, mainly from Panama, Colombia, Paraguay, Brazil and Ecuador. From these ports it is trucked across Europe by well organized multinational gangs.
It is one of the biggest money makers of crime organizations.
Also read: Spain seizes submarine full of ‘several tons’ of cocaine
The European drug watchdog estimates that in 2020 the EU retail cocaine market will be worth between 7.7 billion and 10.5 billion euros.
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