Belgium steps up cocaine trade fight with Port of Antwerp bans, prosecutor

Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne wants to crack down on the cocaine trade by placing the entire Port of Antwerp under a single law enforcement authority.

Van Quickenborne’s blueprint to secure Europe’s second-largest port —which in recent years has emerged as cocaine smugglers number one port of entry into the Continent— includes plans to create a Port Prosecutor.

The plans would be a step towards simplifying the complex judicial mesh underpinning the port, which, since it straddles the river Scheldt, is in two different jurisdictions: East Flanders and Antwerp.

The future Port Prosecutor will control of the legal and judicial goings-on in the port and will also be the central point of contact for customs, shipping police and local police, as well as for businesses, Van Quickenborne told De Tijd.

“As it stands, they are now faced with two jurisdictions, two public prosecutors, two courts and therefore different judges — that is not ideal,” he said.

The minister’s announcement follows complaints from shipping companies, such as Italy’s MSC and Emirati logistics giant DP World, over the port’s uncoordinated approach in the fight against the illegal drug trade.

Van Quickenborne’s strategy will also aim to make it easier to issue port bans, a legal tool which revokes an individuals’ right to access the port if they have been convicted of drug-related offences.

The revamp to the port’s counter-narcotics apparatus comes as reports of record-breaking drug busts signal a fast-growing interest in the port from overseas smugglers and revelations shedding light on the links between smugglers and high-ranking counternarcotics officials in Belgium.

Commentaires

Posts les plus consultés de ce blog

Legalising cocaine is ‘something to consider,’ says Antwerp mayor

Legalising cocaine is “an option that people need to dare to consider,” according to the mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever (N-VA). De Wever, whose port city is one of the European continent’s major entry points for illegal drugs including cocaine, was interviewed by the authors of a new Dutch book, Nederland, Drugsland, published today. The book, by Volkskrant journalist Jan Tromp and Pieter Tops, a lecturer at Leiden university and at the Dutch police academy, looks at the shadowy side of the drugs trade, and suggests ways it may be tackled. In the book, De Volkskrant reports, De Wever – whose N-VA is the main opposition party in the federal parliament and the largest party in the Flemish government – says he has given up on the illusion that the war against drugs can be won. “ The battle against alcohol and nicotine has also been abandoned,” he says. “Those products are legalised. We accept the social consequences.” He makes it clear, the paper reports, that it would be “hor...

Drogue d'Amérique latine, 400 kilos de cocaïne qui allaient en Israël, capturés dans le port d'Anvers

Les autorités belges ont saisi en 2020 un total record de 65,48 tonnes de cocaïne, principalement d'Amérique latine, dans le port d'Anvers, qui reste le premier point d'entrée de cette drogue en Europe, le ministère de La finance. Sur les 4,7 tonnes de cocaïne interceptées en 2013, le volume de drogue saisi a été multiplié par 14, ont rapporté les autorités. En 2020, le total saisi a dépassé les 62,10 tonnes enregistrées en 2019. La Colombie est le principal point d'origine de la cocaïne interceptée à Anvers, suivie du Brésil et de l'Équateur. En Europe, la Belgique est la principale destination des envois de médicaments, devant l'Espagne et les Pays-Bas. Depuis ces trois pays d'arrivée, la cocaïne est distribuée dans toute l'Europe, normalement diluée à «60% de pureté». Ainsi, ces 65 tonnes de cocaïne représenteraient une valeur d'environ 7 500 millions d'euros dans les rues, soit près de 9 milliards de dollars. Le port d'Anvers est le deuxi...

Europol takes Europe-wide action against online hate speech

The European Union’s law enforcement agency Europol this week coordinated an operation aimed at cracking down on racist and xenophobic messages online. The action was led by the German Bundeskriminalamt, the federal criminal police, and also involved police in Czechia, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. The operation was coordinated by Europol’s European Counter Terrorism Centre ( ECTC ). The ECTC was created in 2016, and is described as “an operations centre and hub of expertise that reflects the growing need for the EU to strengthen its response to terror”. It now has more than 80 staff members as well as 14 experts seconded from member states. As well as tackling terrorism, it also works closely with the European Cybercrime Centre and the European Migrant Smuggling Centre. On the day of the operation, law enforcement in the nine countries raided 97 premises, including 81 homes in Germany alone. They detained a ...

nouvelles quotidiennes

Rechercher dans ce blog