Belgium authorities seized a record amount of cocaine at the port of Antwerp in 2023. The port city has become Europe’s main gateway for the drug shipped from South America. The cocaine trade has also sparked violence and corruption in Belgium and other European countries.
Customs seized 116 tons of cocaine in Antwerp, a 5% increase on 2022. It is thought only a small fraction of the drug, possibly a tenth, is actually detected on arrival at the port. Antwerp has seen dozens of grenade attacks, fires and small bombs, many linked to gangs trying to carve up the thriving cocaine market. In 2023, 22 people, including three police officers, were arrested in a major anti-drug bust targeting individuals suspected of smuggling cocaine through Antwerp.
Record amounts of cocaine are being seized in Europe, with 303 tons stopped by EU member countries in 2021, the most recent year for which figures are available, 75% of that quantity was seized in Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain. The demand for cocaine is growing rapidly across the EU, and governments blame the drug trade for outbreaks of violence in major port cities like Antwerp, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, and Marseille in France
