Quarter of drugs pass through Antwerp

21 May 2007

BRUSSELS – About 25 percent of all drugs on the European market originating in South America are brought in through the Antwerp port. This has emerged from new reports from the US department of state and Europol, De Morgen reported this weekend.

Security adviser to Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt Brice De Ruyver confirmed that the supply of cocaine and heroin on the Belgian market has reached an all time high. “The prices for these drugs are at a historic low. That means that they are in particularly great supply,” he said.

According to the International Narcotics Strategy Report for 2007 from the US department of state, Antwerp is a favourite port among drug smugglers bringing cocaine into Europe. It is thought that 16 tonnes of the substance enter Europe through Antwerp, but the actual figures is probably much higher. It is assumed that only 10 to 20 percent of the cocaine trade is intercepted.

Subject: Belgian news