Antwerp is currently facing significant challenges in its efforts to control the flow of cocaine through its port. Despite ongoing efforts to strengthen security measures, the port continues to be a major entry point for the illegal drug trade. The authorities are working diligently to address this issue, but the sheer volume of cargo passing through the port presents a formidable obstacle. As a result, Antwerp is grappling with the complex task of effectively monitoring and intercepting the illicit transportation of cocaine, in order to safeguard both public safety and the integrity of its port operations.
Authorities in Belgium say they seized a record amount of cocaine at the port of Antwerp last year. The port city has become Europe’s main gateway for the drug shipped from South America.
Seizure Statistics
Belgian authorities said on Wednesday that customs seized 116 tonnes of cocaine in the port of Antwerp in 2023 alone, setting a record for the second year in a row – in 2022, 109 tonnes were seized.
According to Belgian finance minister Vincent Van Peteghem, five more tonnes of cocaine were seized last year at the port of Zeebrugge, which together with Antwerp forms the larger Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Record amounts of cocaine are being seized in Europe, with 303 tonnes stopped by EU countries in 2021, the most recent year for which figures are available, with around 75% being seized in Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain.
Statements from Officials
“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 the safety of our families,” Van Peteghem said.
Van Peteghem disclosed these figures together with the Dutch state secretary Aukje de Vries who said that the customs officers of the Netherlands seized more than 140 consignments of cocaine last year including the largest-ever consignment of cocaine in the country’s history, a consignment of eight tonnes of cocaine, shipped from Ecuador to Rotterdam via Panama.
Collaborative Efforts
De Vries also mentioned that the Dutch customs diving team is also working in Antwerp and that the two neighbouring countries are jointly collaborating with Latin America.
The European Commission has also recently created the European Ports Alliance due to the smuggling of increased drug quantities through ports.
One of the activities by the alliance will be spending more than $220m on adding scanning equipment at ports. Antwerp, for example, has vowed to get all high-risk containers scanned by 2028. At the same time, Europol, the law enforcement agency of the European Union, launched a joint analysis report with the Security Steering Committee of the ports of Antwerp, Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Rotterdam looking into the risks and challenges for law enforcement posed by criminal networks in EU ports.
