Published: Less than 20 min ago
Cooperation across the Atlantic will help the EU fight drug trafficking. The fight against drugs is now compared to the fight against terrorism.
In a couple of weeks, EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson will go to Colombia and Ecuador together with Belgium’s Minister of the Interior Annelies Verlinden to discuss on the spot how to combat drug smuggling.
– I want a permanent structure for police cooperation and information exchange with Colombia and I hope to achieve that. In Ecuador, it will be an important thing to visit Guayaquil, the port where probably the majority of the cocaine that ends up in Antwerp and the EU comes from, says Johansson during a visit to the port in Antwerp on Tuesday.
The port city at the mouth of the Scheldt in Belgium is one of the biggest gateways for drugs into Europe. Last year, a record amount of 110 tons of cocaine was seized here – 22 percent more than the year before.
Belgian authorities have increased the number of police officers and customs officers and have the goal of being able to scan 100 percent of all containers arriving from “risky countries”, especially in Latin America.
But they also emphasize the importance of helping each other at EU level.
– No country can handle this fight on its own. The only answer lies at the European level, says Minister Verlinden.
Ylva Johansson promises help and compares it to the international fight against terrorism.
– The threat we face from organized crime is today at least as great as the threat from terrorism, says the interior commissioner in Antwerp.