Dutch and Belgian customs will continue their cooperation against drug smuggling in the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp in 2023, State Secretary for Benefits and Customs Aukje de Vries said on Tuesday.
The continued cooperation was announced at a presentation on drug seizures in the ports in 2022, which Belgian Finance Minister Vincent van Peteghem also attended.
A joint approach is necessary as criminals see both ports as “one large working area,” de Vries said during the presentation.
“The figures once again show how enormous the problem of drug smuggling still is, both in Belgium and in the Netherlands,” de Vries added.
“Criminals are becoming increasingly ruthless and the consequences are being felt in both countries, including shootings and murders in the middle of the street. It is very important that our countries stand shoulder to shoulder in tackling subversion,” she added.
In the Antwerp port, 110,000 kilos of drugs were intercepted in 2022, a sharp increase compared to the drugs intercepted the previous year.
In Rotterdam, close to 50,000 kilos of cocaine were intercepted last year, a significant drop compared to 2021 when authorities seized about 70,000 kilos of the substance – though more cocaine is being trafficked through the Visslingen port than before.
“The total street value of the cocaine seized [in the Netherlands] is a staggering €3.5 billion,” the Public Prosecution Service reported on Tuesday, NL Times reports.
To tackle drug trafficking, the two governments are thus banking on increased cooperation, notably by increasing information sharing.
To better understand and intercept trafficked goods, the two governments will also cooperate lore with shipping companies.
(Sofia Stuart Leeson | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
