Customs in the Port of Antwerp seized 50.1 tonnes of cocaine during 2018. This record seizure, with a street value of €2.5 billion, is an increase of 22% on the amount intercepted in 2017.
In recent years, the quantities of cocaine seized annually in the Port of Antwerp have only ever increased, going from 8.1 tonnes in 2014 to 50.1 tonnes last year.
During 2018, seizures of heroin (4.4 tonnes), cannabis (16.8 tonnes) and opiates (8 tonnes) also saw a considerable rise compared to 2017.
The Minister for Finances, Alexander De Croo, visiting the Border Inspection Post on Antwerp’s Left Bank, was delighted saying, “Increasing the numbers in the ‘drugs’ teams, and additional investments in scanners, are both clearly bearing fruit.”
The Brussels Times
