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Cocaine trafficking is an “even larger” problem than terrorism in Belgium, mentioned the nation’s justice minister, who known as on the EU to hurry up worldwide co-operation to assist catch drug lords hiding overseas.
Vincent Van Quickenborne advised the Monetary Occasions that the EU wants joint extradition agreements and improve co-operation amongst ports to fight worldwide trafficking networks. Belgium’s port metropolis of Antwerp is the biggest cocaine trafficking hub in Europe, with a file of just about 110 tonnes seized final 12 months, up from about 90 tonnes in 2021 and 66 tonnes in 2020, based on customs authorities.
“What the struggle was towards Islamist terrorism seven/eight years in the past is now at this time the struggle towards organised crime,” Van Quickenborne mentioned, including that “the magnitude [of drug trafficking] is even larger” than terrorism due to the tons of of hundreds of customers throughout Europe who’ve “blood on their noses”.
Van Quickenborne is below police safety after prison gangs tried to kidnap him and his household final September
Cocaine seizures in Belgium within the first half of 2023 rose 21 per cent in comparison with the identical interval in 2022, and customs authorities anticipate one other file 12 months.
Antwerp’s development as a smuggling hub is a results of its sprawling dimension, which makes it tough to manage, in addition to a considerable amount of container shipments arriving from Latin America, the place cocaine manufacturing has elevated over the previous seven years.
In February, the Belgian authorities introduced new measures to struggle the prison networks, together with appointing a devoted medication commissioner, greater than 200 further workers for police and customs, new container scanning gear in addition to background checks on 16,000 port workers.
Cocaine smuggling has risen since 2017. Belgian police spent “numerous vitality” on counter-terrorism within the wake of 2016 assaults on Brussels, the minister mentioned. However drug trafficking was now “on the highest of each authorities [agenda] in Europe”, he mentioned.
In recent times, a number of kingpins overseeing the unlawful commerce have moved to places together with the United Arab Emirates and Turkey to evade prosecution. Authorities in Belgium and different EU nations had struggled to get them extradited, Van Quickenborne mentioned. His nation signed an extradition accord with the UAE in 2021, which thus far has proved ineffective.
“There must be extra European stress on the Emirates,” Van Quickenborne mentioned. “If I speak to my colleagues in Italy, Spain, Germany, France, all of them have a want record of the individuals which can be hiding in Dubai and they aren’t in a position to transfer to see them extradited to Europe.”
Extradition or different authorized agreements facilitating cross-border prosecution “popping out of Europe as an alternative of on a bilateral foundation may assist us to place stress on Dubai,” he mentioned. He additionally known as for a “community of port prosecutors” to trade info.
Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Belgian ministers met in Antwerp in June to debate organised crime, the place they signed a declaration supporting an EU-wide strategy.
The European Fee declined to touch upon Van Quickenborne’s name for motion however mentioned it was “engaged in stepping up the efforts towards drug trafficking, together with cocaine within the EU”.
The flexibleness of prison teams means they might more and more transfer to totally different European ports, equivalent to Hamburg, Le Havre and Valencia to evade tighter measures in Antwerp, based on Europol.
Van Quickenborne warned that it could be tough to utterly stamp out the drug commerce, however mentioned he was “very decided to proceed our struggle . . . [and] eradicate these drug criminals”.
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