A dog searches for drugs during a demonstration, January 10, 2023 in Beveren, Belgium (BELGA/AFP/Archives/JONAS ROOSENS)
The European Union launched on Wednesday in Antwerp in Belgium, the main entry point for cocaine on the continent, a “Ports Alliance” to harmonize their security measures against drug trafficking and combat their infiltration by criminal networks.
“It takes a network to fight a network. Successes against criminals in a single port will only move them to other ports,” said European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson.
Cocaine, coming from Latin America, is flooding the European market. Seizures are exploding in Europe, “but (sales) prices are not increasing, which shows that the flow of drugs is only growing,” she stressed.
The European Ports Alliance is intended to create a partnership between port authorities, customs, police and maritime transport companies in particular. Sixteen of the main European container ports were represented at the launch, including those of Rotterdam, Hamburg, Algeciras, Marseille, in addition to Antwerp.
“The complexity of the criminal landscape is only increasing. It is obvious to me that we will not be able to succeed if we focus only on the national level,” underlined the Belgian Minister of the Interior, Annelies Verlinden, whose country holds the presidency of the Council of the EU, during this event in which its European counterparts also participated.
A dog sniffs a container in search of drugs during a customs check at the port of Antwerp, May 20, 2022 in Belgium (AFP/Archives/Valeria Mongelli)
Large ports are the target of local mafias, who do not hesitate to bribe dockers, port agents or truck drivers, customs officers and police sometimes, in order to let the “little hands” recover the drugs in the containers.
In the gigantic port of Antwerp, “as big as 20,000 football fields”, seizures have broken a new record, with 116 tonnes intercepted in 2023. And the main Flemish city is regularly shaken by violence linked to gangs fighting over traffic with colossal financial stakes.
– “Fair competition” –
The increase in traffic in the port of Antwerp followed the strengthening of security in that of Rotterdam, in the neighboring Netherlands, notes the Swedish commissioner.
A customs employee inspects a box of bananas in a hangar at the port of Antwerp, May 20, 2022 in Belgium (AFP/Archives/Valeria Mongelli)
“Now Antwerp is intensifying (the fight against drugs), and it seems that the traffic is also going to smaller ports. For example there are indications that more drugs are arriving in Helsingborg in Sweden,” she said to the AFP.
Same phenomenon when drugs leave Latin America, according to her: after the measures taken by Colombian ports, that of Guayaquil in Ecuador became the major point of export to Europe of cocaine produced in Colombia and neighboring Peru. .
In the EU, almost 70% of drug seizures made by customs are made at ports.
“We need more cooperation, not only with the police and customs, but also with private actors in ports,” emphasizes Ylva Johansson.
The phenomenon of corruption within ports linked to mastiff trafficking “is also a risk for legal trade, so no one wants that,” she insists.
For the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, it is crucial to have the same level of security in all EU ports in order to respect “fair competition”. Because these controls take time, can delay commercial activity and weaken the economic attractiveness of a port.
Within the Alliance, participants will exchange information and best practices to secure ports, map flows and dismantle criminal networks.
The EU will provide 200 million euros to help customs equip themselves with modern equipment to scan containers.
A dog sniffs boxes of fruit in search of drugs during a customs check in a hangar at the port of Antwerp, May 20, 2022 in Belgium (AFP/Archives/Valeria Mongelli)
In addition to the flows arriving by containers in the large ports of Northern Europe, another mode of operation consists of traffickers transporting the drugs to West or North Africa, where they are loaded onto smaller boats. to ports located in Spain in particular.
Alongside the surge in cocaine, the authorities are also concerned about the increase in synthetic drug trafficking.
Gérald Darmanin called for a common strategy, “in particular to prevent fentanyl from arriving in Europe”.
This powerful synthetic opiate, made from products very often coming from China, is the cause of tens of thousands of overdoses each year in the United States, where it is introduced by Mexican cartels.
© 2024 AFP
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