Cooperation with the Netherlands seems particularly important, also on the judicial level to hear Mr Van Quickenborne. Most of the perpetrators of violence linked to this traffic come from Amsterdam or Rotterdam and today there are about forty of them occupying a wing of the Antwerp prison.
Who is Othman El B, king of Antwerp coke and uncle of the girl killed on Monday evening?
The minister did not hide that the fight would still be long and difficult. “There will be other tragedies. And what is happening in the Netherlands and with us will also happen in other countries,” he said.
Both Ms Verlinden and Mr Van Quickenborne stressed the efforts already made by the government in the fight against drugs. A “stroomplan” has emerged, targeting Antwerp, and a national drug plan is being drawn up. The budgets allocated to justice and the judicial police have increased. The Antwerp PJF should thus arrive at a frame that is 95% full. An additional chamber dedicated to drug trafficking will also be created at the Antwerp Criminal Court. A post of port prosecutor was also created. He will benefit from the assistance of 5 substitutes whose offers will be published on Friday.
A screening of personnel working at the port will also be carried out, at the time of recruitment and annually. Port bans, in accordance with the new port law, may be imposed.
Several deputies, in particular Nabil Boukili (PTB) and Khalil Aaousti (PS), expressed concern about the screening of the containers which arrive every day in very large numbers at the port of Antwerp and which would be barely 1 or 2% of the total . Ben Segers (Vooruit) proposed that a form of “corridor” be created to compel truck drivers whose cargo has been selected for screening to actually pass through scanners, with significant fines instead of current “laughable” fines.
Last year, some 110 tons of cocaine were seized at the port of Antwerp and 50 tons in Rotterdam. According to Europol figures quoted by the minister, some 10% of the total are now intercepted. If this share increases to 20%, the passage through Antwerp will become “uninteresting” for traffickers, said Mr. Van Quickenborne.