European portsWith this Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg In recent years they have become the main entry point into Europe for drugs from Latin America, especially cocaine. According to data from the European Commission, more than 70% of seizures occur in ports whose weaknesses and loopholes they know how to exploit. criminal organizations. To reverse this trend and the insecurity and violence it causes, the European Union held an opening ceremony this Wednesday. Public-private alliance It will bring together ports, national authorities, European institutions such as Europol, operators, customs and police authorities.
“Cooperation between national authorities, the EU and ports is vital. Organized crime is adept at moving from one port to another as opportunities wax and wane. That’s why we need to establish a network,” the internal affairs commissioner reasoned. Ylva JohanssonAt the event held in the port of Antwerp, the fourteenth largest port in the world, with an infrastructure the size of 20,000 football fields and the capacity to handle millions of containers every year.
“Success against criminals in one port will only cause them to move on to other ports. This is something we’ve already seen. “We need to join forces because one network is needed to fight against another network,” he claimed in the same vein as the Belgian interior minister. Annelies Verlinden. “It is clear that we will not be successful if we focus only on the national level” and “therefore the six countries –Netherlands, France, Spain, Germany, Italy and Belgium– we decided to join forces to fight organized crime,” said the Belgian federal minister, talking about a cooperation they have maintained since 2021, which has helped increase the flow of information.
Smuggling is on the rise
The new alliance, which will be introduced this Thursday on the eve of the informal meeting of interior ministers, is one of the measures proposed by the Commission on 18 October in its roadmap to combat drug trafficking, which infiltrates and enters the territory of all kinds of secret societies. containers and goods. Only in 2023 amount of drugs seized In this Belgian port this amount reached 121 tons; this was 10% more than seized in 2022 and more than a third of the 303 tonnes seized by European authorities in 2021.
“Cocaine seems immune to inflation. The flow of drugs is increasing. “There is more cocaine on the European market than ever,” admitted the Swedish social democrat, denouncing the collateral damage caused by this illegal trade: corruption, insecurity and violence. For example, “Half of the murders in the EU are caused by drug trafficking. Criminal networks infiltrate the economy, exploit corruption and pose a threat to our society. That’s why it’s so important to improve cooperation between customs and the police and this public-private alliance,” Johansson added, referring to the explosion in murders it caused, including the murder of an 11-year-old girl in Antwerp at the beginning of 2017. last year.
custom controls
The alliance aims to strengthen risk management and implement more specific and effective controls at ports to prevent “infiltration” of criminal activities. Additionally, with the support of Europol, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, police operations in ports against criminal organizations organizing drug trafficking will be increased and a public-private partnership will be established to combat drug trafficking and raise awareness among different actors. and we support port and shipping authorities. The next step will be to prove commitments to a work plan that will guide future anti-trafficking efforts.
As the commissioner for economic affairs reminded at the same forum, Paolo GentiloniAn important element may be new EU Customs Administration proposed by Brussels and international cooperation. “We must strengthen our cooperation with port authorities of origin to stop drugs before they go to Europe. We must close the tap on both sides of the Atlantic. In fact, Commissioner Johansson and the Belgian minister initially traveled from 2023 Ecuador and Colombia Strengthening ties with two important Latin American countries on the drug route to Europe