Cocaine seizures at the Belgian port of Antwerp, a major entry point into Europe for primarily South American drug cartels, reached a new high last year, authorities said on Wednesday.
Belgian Finance Minister Vincent van Peteghem informed reporters that 116 tonnes of cocaine were arrested in Antwerp alone, a 5% increase over 2022, which was already a record high.
“These are quantities that pose a gigantic danger to safety in our ports and cities, to the safety of the many hundreds of customs and dock workers on site and to the safety of our families,” the minister told reporters.
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain are the top three European countries for illegal cocaine imports, with majority coming from Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador.
At the same news conference, Dutch officials said that they had confiscated 59.1 tonnes of cocaine in 2023, a significant increase from the previous year.
Ecuador was by far the most common nation of origin for drugs intercepted in the Netherlands, with little under 27 tons impounded.
Gunfire and explosions are common in Antwerp and the Dutch port of Rotterdam, both of which are the sites of turf fights between strong international drug gangs.
The two ports were the two primary entrance sites used by a Dubai-based “super cartel” that supplied a third of Europe’s cocaine, which Europol said was busted in late 2022.
Cocaine is typically buried in containers or, in certain cases, beneath ships in apertures below the water line, where it is then recovered by divers.
Sniffer dogs and police frogmen are stationed at the Antwerp and Rotterdam container terminals, but authorities believe they barely intercept a percentage of unlawful cargo.
“The drug traffickers will stop at nothing and will use every mean available,” said Aukje de Vries, Dutch state secretary for customs.
“That’s why we need to do everything in our power to intercept drugs,” she added.
‘Underwater robots’
In August, Dutch officials made a big raid, discovering more than eight tons of cocaine concealed in a banana cargo from Ecuador—the largest ever consignment.
De Vries stated that officials were “constantly innovating to stay a step ahead of the criminals,” using underwater robots, smart cameras, and drones.
According to European officials, organised crime poses an equal threat to the continent as terrorism.
Criminal gangs have threatened Belgium’s Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, and the drug trade has fueled an increase in armed crime.
Wednesday’s results were released the day after 22 people, including three police officers, were apprehended in a massive anti-drug raid.
According to a statement from the federal police, some 350 officers were deployed mostly in Brussels and Antwerp, and 45 searches were conducted, resulting in the seizure of cash, luxury automobiles, and a pistol.
Belgium is currently holding a drug trafficking mega-trial with over 120 suspects in custody, thanks in large part to investigators hacking encrypted chat apps.
Last year, authorities announced a record haul of 109.9 tonnes in Antwerp for 2022.