90 tonnes of cocaine seized in the port of Antwerp in 2021. A historic record which, in all likelihood, will be broken once more this year. Customs estimates that the 100 tonne mark might be reached in 2022.
However, this quantity poses a major security problem, De Standaard and Gazet van Antwerpen report on Saturday. Approved incinerators cannot process all of the drugs seized, so they must be stored in customs warehouses before being destroyed, sometimes late.
Antwerp prosecutor Franky De Keyser sounded the alarm to Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open VLD) a few weeks ago. The stock of narcotics is now so large that criminal gangs might try to steal it. The Mayor of Antwerp, Bart De Wever (N-VA), also spoke to the Minister of Justice regarding this. Van Quickenborne and De Wever claim to be seeking solutions together.
