Belgium and Costa Rica will cooperate more closely to combat international drug trafficking as a result of a new agreement just signed by Belgian justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Flemish liberal) and President Rodrigo Chaves Robles of Costa Rica.
Justice minister Vincent Van Quickenborne welcomed President Rodrigo Chaves Robles to the Senate for the signing ceremony. The two leaders signed a declaration of intent as part of the fight against international drug trafficking.
"Costa Rica – as country of origin for shipments - ranks fourth in terms of cocaine seizures in the port of Antwerp. If we can increase port security there and we can do the same here in Antwerp for ships coming from Costa Rica, both countries will benefit," Mr Van Quickenborne says.
"This is why it is very important that we make agreements with the Costa Rican authorities in order to tackle this problem together. We are going to share a lot more information about suspicious vessels, operations, cargoes and criminals’ MO with each other so that we increase the chances of their being caught."
An organised information exchange between the Costa Rican shipping authorities and Belgian counterparts will be rolled out. The aim is to report to each other information on suspicious operations on and around ships, the presence of unauthorised persons, questionable cargoes and high-risk containers. The two countries also commit to keeping each other informed when new smuggling methods are discovered.
Costa Rica is the fourth largest country of origin for drug shipment seizures at the port of Antwerp, with 10 tonnes per year, after Ecuador (about 101 tonnes), Colombia (about 27 tonnes) and Panama (about 11 tonnes).