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Belgium: 36 tonnes of cocaine seized in Antwerp in the first six months of the year

2022-08-17T19:35:26.683Z


Belgian customs announced on Wednesday August 16 that they had seized some 35.8 tonnes of cocaine in the port of Antwerp in the first six months of 2022...


Belgian customs announced on Wednesday August 16 that they had seized some 35.8 tonnes of cocaine in the first six months of 2022 in the port of Antwerp (north-west), the first route of entry for this drug into the European market - a figure brought back to the level of 2020, far from last year's record.

Over the whole of 2021, the Belgian authorities had seized 89.5 tonnes of cocaine in Antwerp, an increase of 36% compared to 2020 and a new record.

This quantity, which has doubled in five years, was estimated at 12.76 billion euros in market value.

Read alsoCocaine trafficking: this “white tsunami” which hits France

The record seizures of 2021 were explained by the vast operation carried out following interceptions of exchanges on Sky ECC, a telephone system widely used in the traffic of cocaine between South America and Europe, which had led to a cascade of new investigations in Belgium, with more than 550 arrests in the country.

In addition, through collaboration with the World Customs Organization (WCO) and partner countries in South and Central America, 28 tons of cocaine destined for Belgium were also intercepted in the ports of origin during the first half of the year, the Belgian Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Wednesday.

Read alsoPort of Marseille: 528 kilos of cocaine seized in a moving container

Panama, Ecuador, Paraguay, Colombia and Brazil remain the top five countries of origin of seized products, while Belgium remains the main point of entry for cocaine into Europe, ahead of Spain and the Netherlands.

In the first six months of 2022, Belgian customs also intercepted 2.2 tonnes of hashish and 1.27 tonnes of heroin in Antwerp, according to the ministry.

Customs checked a total of more than 40,000 containers, not only for suspicion of drug trafficking but also to enforce Western sanctions against Russia, said the Belga agency.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-08-17

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