Belgian customs authorities have raised the alarm on a "worrying" rise in the number of drug seizures at Brussels Airport, as the amount of cocaine found in packages passing through the airport has increased five-fold between 2023 and 2024.
Not only is the number of seizures at the airport in Zavantem growing, so too is the quantity of drugs being seized as well as the number of new types of drugs.
Up to the end of November 2024, 130 kilograms of cocaine were discovered in postal packages in Brussels Airport – five times more than last year, the General Administration of Customs and Excise (AAD&A) reports.
Additionally, 1,123 kilograms of khat (a plant native to East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula which is chewed for its stimulant effects) was seized during the same period – a four-fold increase.
About 378 kilograms of cannabis was found, marking another significant surge, attributed the boom in cannabis trafficking to its legalisation in Canada and the United States, leading to overproduction and the search for markets abroad.
Custom authorities have intercepted a wide variety of drugs at Brussels Airport this year, including ketamine, ecstasy, MDMA, methamphetamine, and LSD. For the first time, kratom, a powder made from the leaves of a tropical plant from Southeast Asia, was seized.
Khat intercepted in a Belgian airport. Credit: Belga
Creative ways to smuggle drugs
Drug traffickers continue to find creative ways to conceal substances. Authorities have found ecstasy in tins of dog food and soup cans, methamphetamine in a steel beam, and cocaine in a pot of petroleum jelly.
Looking at passengers coming through the airport, there has also been a dramatic five-fold increase in the amount of cocaine intercepted on people's person. More than a tonne of cocaine (1,071 kilograms) was seized from passengers in 2024, as well as 475.8 kilograms of cannabis.
Customs authorities say that the majority of traffickers now try to smuggle drugs in their luggage (78.5%). This is a big change from last year when smuggling was more often carried out by people who swallowed drugs to sneak them past security.
The AAD&A also notes an increase in the number of drugs seized in air freight shipments. In 2024, among other things, 19 kilograms of cocaine, 69 kilograms of khat and 528 kilograms of cannabis were seized.
Authorities have said that the increased smuggling of various drugs emphasises the need for continued cooperation between all airport partners, such as Customs, the Public Prosecutor's Office and the Federal Police.
"It is of great importance that we continue to anticipate the changing trends in drug trafficking and that we continue to work for a safe and healthy society," said Kristian Vanderwaeren, Administrator General of the AAD&A.
