116 tons, the amount of cocaine that arrived here from Latin America and West Africa last year, set a new record. Latin America remains the biggest source of the drug but West Africa too is becoming far more important in the figures as the same cartels look for new routes to deliver their wares.
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Record cocaine seizures in the port of Antwerp as AI makes an entry in detection
Colin Clapson
Published:
123 seizures of cocaine were made in port of Antwerp last year yielding 116 tons. The figure doesn’t include two seizures in December that still need to be added and will increase the figure yet further. Add Zeebrugge and the figure already rises to 121 tons.
4,840 kilos of cannabis and 2,903 kilos of heroine were also seized in Antwerp.
Some 150 arrests were made in connection with drug hauls in the port. Over half those arrested were Dutch nationals.
Antwerp courts dealt with 72 cases in which 361 defendants appeared. In all sentences totalling 1,487 years and 11,240,808 euros in fines were meted out.
The drugs originate in Ecuador, Colombia and Brazil, but also Senegal, Cape Verde and Ivory Coast. Latin American drug traffickers are simply diversifying their routes as the direct route from Latin America comes under greater scrutiny.
Most often the drugs are hidden in containers together with other bona fide products like bananas, sugar and timber. Large quantities of drugs can be shipped in this way. To outwit port security the drugs are often only collected after the container has left the port.
Belgium sees cooperation with the Dutch authorities and countries in Latin America as a good way of combating the trade. New technologies are also employed including the use of AI to analyse scans.
Despite satisfaction at record seizures the total amount of drugs still entering Europe via Antwerp is feared to be on the rise.