They had planned the coup. Cocaine traffickers had anticipated the slowdown in travel and trade caused by the coronavirus pandemic. So, just before, they circulated a lot of cocaine between South America and Belgium. An observation made by the boss of the Belgian customs, Kristian Vanderwaeren. "In recent days there has been a substantial increase in seizures," he said. Belgium is considered to be one of the hubs for cocaine trafficking in Europe, in particular via the gigantic port of Antwerp (north).
According to him, "the mafia in South America has organized itself and placed as many goods as possible in containers, knowing that this container traffic to Europe will decrease in the months to come". At the port of Antwerp, more than 1.6 tonnes of cocaine in total were intercepted during three customs seizures on March 27 and 30. "Bingo three times", says Kristian Vanderwaeren, because seizing 300 or 700 kg of cocaine at one time is not frequent at this time of the year, far from the summer holidays or Christmas-New Years which mark peaks of “festive” consumption in Europe.
Another surprise: nearly 350 kg of the same drug was seized on March 16 at Brussels-Zaventem airport on the arrival of a flight from the Dominican Republic. "In normal times we make observations relating to 1 kg, 1.5 kg, 2 kg ... Never on such a quantity" in luggage, continues the chief of customs. The drug was hidden in "eight pieces of baggage" placed in the hold, and was not claimed by anyone on arrival, "there was no arrest," said the prosecutor at Hal-Vilvorde. (center), where an investigation was launched.
62 tonnes of cocaine seized in the port of Antwerp in 2019
The rapid spread of the new coronavirus has greatly disrupted air transport since mid-March, notably in Brussels-Zaventem and Charleroi, the two main airports in Belgium. The second was completely closed to passenger traffic on March 24.
As for the port of Antwerp, the second European platform (after Rotterdam in the Netherlands) for maritime freight, the impact of the pandemic on its activity is already visible there. Quays are less crowded because transport companies use telework in part, according to Kristian Vanderwaeren. Also at customs "we try to limit physical checks following government instructions," he said.
In 2019, cocaine seizures in the port of Antwerp had reached a new record, at almost 62 tonnes. The drug, for almost 60% of these volumes, came from three countries: Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia.
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