“Your problem is our problem,” declared Bart De Wever in his speech in the presence of Noboa. “Drugs are consumed in Europe. We are therefore at the root of the crime problem in Ecuador. We therefore come as modest mayors, to offer you help with your solution.”
At the beginning of January, President Noboa declared a state of emergency and war on 22 criminal gangs active in drug smuggling. Its security services like to carry out mass arrests. But as long as poverty is rampant in Ecuador, the trafficking gangs will recruit new recruits, as the mayor of Rotterdam pointed out.
Last year, local police seized 116 tonnes of cocaine at the Antwerp port. A large part of these drugs came from Latin America, but also from West Africa, as the cartels look for new routes to sell their goods.