Drugs: the port of Antwerp, entry point for cocaine in Europe, breaks a new record

The port of Antwerp (illustration image).

Corbis via Getty Images - Sander de Wilde

Text by: RFI Follow

4 mins

Nearly 110 tonnes of cocaine were seized by the Belgian authorities in 2022 in the port of Antwerp, the first gateway to Europe for this drug shipped from Latin America, a new record, customs announced on Tuesday January 10. Belgians.

This is the first time that the 100 ton mark has been exceeded. 

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The port of Antwerp in Belgium has become the main gateway for cocaine into Europe.

For the past six years, Belgian customs have been seizing more white powder there each year from Latin America.

Some 89.5 tonnes were intercepted in 2021 and therefore 110 tonnes in 2022.

In Rotterdam, in the Netherlands, interceptions for this same drug fell to 52.5 tons against around 70 in 2021, it was specified during the press conference associating the two neighboring countries this Tuesday morning in Beveren. (Belgium), near Antwerp.

If the port of Antwerp has become a hub of the cocaine market, it is because it is particularly interesting for traffickers, reports our correspondent in Brussels,

.

It is the largest port in Europe in terms of area with 129 square kilometers and it is relatively open.

It is also close to the Netherlands, the neighboring country, where many groups of traffickers are established.

A mobile scanner is used to check the contents of a container, in the port of Antwerp, August 17, 2022. AP - Virginia Mayo

Europe, a juicy market

In Antwerp, the cartels are also taking advantage of the intensification of world maritime trade and most often hide drugs in fruit containers from Latin America, as Florence Agelici, spokesperson for Belgian customs, explains to us.

“

”.

Traffickers can also use trunks that have been dug, continues Florence Agelici.

"

."

Today Belgian customs only inspects between 1.5 and 2% of the thousands of containers passing through the port of Antwerp, this is the norm in Europe.

And yet, the seizures are gigantic, and constantly increasing.

How then can the scale of the phenomenon be explained?

“

”.

Furthermore, Europe is a “

Another concern: consumption,

and affects increasingly young sections of the population, regrets Florence Agelici.

In Antwerp, cocaine trafficking would represent 50 or 60 billion euros each year, or 10% of Belgium's GDP.

Last September, a Brussels magistrate expressed concern that the country was turning into a narco state.

►

: In Belgium, the port of Antwerp at the center of violence linked to cocaine trafficking

Trafficking violence is also on the rise 

Drug-related violence increased sharply last year in Antwerp.

There have been several grenade explosions in Antwerp and last night (Monday) an 11 year old girl was killed in Antwerp as well.

The mayor linked this murder to " 

 " in the city.

Information not yet confirmed by the prosecution.

For their part, the authorities have intensified the fight against the drug mafias.

In 2021, the dismantling of the

network , a joint operation by several European police forces, revealed the extent of the traffic in the port of Antwerp, and the involvement of Dutch criminals.

Last September, the Belgian government announced a new plan to fight against the drug mafias of nearly 400 million euros, providing for a reinforcement of the capacities of the police and customs... 

(and with agencies)

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