The European Commissioner for Home Affairs visited the port of Antwerp today, together with the Belgian Minister for the Interior. An observation: the Belgian authorities are having a hard time fighting once morest drug trafficking. European collaboration and support are essential.
A primarily symbolic image this followingnoon along one of the many quays of the port of Antwerp: the first visit of a European Commissioner for Home Affairs. Finally an awareness of the European Union, help is needed on the threshold of one of the main entry points for drugs on the continent.
“Criminal organizations are more and more elaborate, more international and more and more violent, so we must intensify our efforts and to fight once morest these networks we must also have a network, and strengthen it”says Ylva Johansson, European Commissioner for Home Affairs.
And the commissioner to confide to having been marked by the death of a child in Antwerp at the beginning of January. A sort of trigger for a European response to a problem that goes beyond the Belgian police and justice
“The reality is that until 7 or 8 years ago, when we talked regarding drug-related violence, we talked regarding Central America, Mexican cartels, we talked regarding Guatemala, we didn’t talk regarding Europe. Today, little by little, violence has taken hold everywhere. It’s a wake-up call, an awareness.” explains Alexis Goosdeel, the director of the European drugs observatory.
Europe still needs to intensify cooperation between member states. “Sharing information between police departments, it can be regarding smartphones, info regarding cars doing the work for criminal gangs, so it’s essential”, emphasizes Annelies Verlinden, the Minister of the Interior.
Police patrols are reinforced in the port to try to stop an extremely profitable traffic. 1 kilo of cocaine costs 1,000 euros in South America. Arrived in Europe, it resells 35 times more expensive, 35,000 euros per kilo. In 2022: a record quantity of 110 tonnes of cocaine was seized in Antwerp