Mayors Aboutaleb and De Wever (Antwerp) to Colombia
Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb of Rotterdam and his colleague Bart De Wever of Antwerp leave for Colombia on Saturday 29 January. The reason is the fact that large quantities of cocaine reach Europe via both ports. The consequences of these consequences are disastrous, from economic undermining and health damage to uncontrolled violence with fatal consequences.
With their Belgian-Dutch delegation of judicial police, customs and port authorities, Aboutaleb and De Wever are committed to better cooperation with export ports and more European coordination to combat drug trafficking and crime.
Especially a lot of cocaine through ports
In 2021, 70.5 and 89.5 tons of cocaine were seized in the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp. In 2020 that was still 40.6 and 65.4 tons. Based on estimates by the Hit and Run Cargo team and the Belgian Federal Public Service Finance, the total street value is €17 billion. According to the latest report from the European drug agency EMCDDA from 2021, Belgium and the Netherlands together account for 51% of cocaine seizures in the EU for the reference year 2019.
High drug production, greater chance of being caught
There are several reasons for this increase. Production in South America is high and trade has become more professional. The chance of being caught is greater because customs and security services in both ports have been strengthened, partly at the insistence of both cities. But drug trafficking and crime is and will remain an international problem. That is why both mayors argue for cross-border cooperation.
program
In the port cities of Cartagena, Turbo and Barranquilla, the mayors will talk to representatives of the Colombian government, security services, port companies, fellow mayors and the local population about the fight against cocaine trade and the power of drug cartels.
Mayor Aboutaleb:
“We are working with Colombia to end drug crime,” Aboutaleb said. “But the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam are only a link in the cocaine trade chain; from poor coca farmers to users with a supposedly conscious mind who look away from the world behind that line. We hope that our cooperation will provide an impetus for more coordination within the European Union, because the consequences of cocaine trafficking and use affect all of Europe. De Wever and I advocate an umbrella EU agency for the fight against drugs. It is precisely the lack of coordination and direction that makes Europe attractive for drug criminals.”
Effects
The undermining influence of drug crime is great in the production countries, the transit ports and the sales markets. Tens of thousands of people die each year in the violent war between drug cartels. Cocaine production leads to pollution and deforestation of the rainforest. Politicians, security services and (port) entrepreneurs have experienced dangers, intimidation and bribery. Honest entrepreneurs in Europe pushed out of the market by money laundering and unfair competition.
Young people are tempted to take the path and thus waste their opportunities. Arguments in the racetrack lead to uncontrolled violence with innocent traps falling. Cocaine sniffs undermine their mental and physical health. Both Mayor Aboutaleb and De Wever argue for greater political, administrative and social awareness of these disruptive consequences.
Follow-up
After Colombia, the Rotterdam and Antwerp delegation will travel to Panama and Costa Rica, an emerging transit country for cocaine smuggling, to speak with local authorities and the business community. Later this year, the mayors Overaleb and De Wever will share their comings with administrators, security services and entrepreneurs during the second closed conference on Secure Port in Antwerp. The first edition took place in Rotterdam in 2019.