Monitoring Desk
BELGIUM: Belgium is expected to announce a new annual record for cocaine seizures on Tuesday at its port of Antwerp, likely over 100 tones, amid ever more aggressive activity by drug cartels.
The two main entry points for cocaine shipped from Latin America to reach Europe are the ports of Antwerp and nearby Rotterdam in the Netherlands, where it is frequently concealed in fruit cargoes. Over the past ten years, the Belgian facility has consistently set records for the amount of cocaine found and seized. Belgian officials held a total of 89.5 tonnes (98.7 tonnes) in the port in 2021, a third more than in 2020.
Belgium finance ministry
As per the spokesman for the finance ministry, which is in charge of customs inspections, the running total as of mid-October last year was 71.62 tonnes after a few hundred discoveries in the port.
According to a Belgian customs spokeswoman, the seizures only increased in the final quarter of 2022, approaching Christmas, when cocaine consumption increased. More than three tonnes of cocaine were found in many interceptions, and in mid-October, a cargo from Suriname that included two containers had a total of six tonnes.
It looks likely that the overall haul for 2022 will reach 100 tonnes at such a rate. Nevertheless, despite the use of sniffer dogs and container scanners, officials estimate that only 10% of illegal drugs are transported via Antwerp.
