Belgium urged to act to avoid becoming 'narco-state'

By AFP/Matthieu DEMEESTERE

Belgium's national drugs commissioner has issued an urgent plea for her country to "act now" to crack down on the revenues of traffickers or risk seeing crime syndicates corrode society.

Perched on the northern coast of the European mainland and housing a major port, Belgium has become a key hub for criminal gangs supplying narcotics across the continent.

"The accomplices of criminal organisations live among us, the distinction between the legal world of good, and the illegal world of bad, is not holding any more," Ine Van Wymersch told AFP.

"Belgium is not a narco-state, but we must act now."

Van Wymersch, who has been in the coordinating role since 2023, insisted that authorities at all levels and every sector needed to help "chase illegal money" being laundered.

'Make it harder'

Former prosecutor Van Wymersch said town councils needed to step up their vigilance from the moment businesses first apply for a licence.

"An umpteenth hairdresser or an umpteenth pizzeria in the same street -- is that justified, is that good for the local economy?" she said.

"Local authorities have to ask themselves these questions."

The aim is to clamp down on front companies used to funnel illegal revenues into the legal economy.

"We also need to identify shops with no one there," Van Wymersch said.

She cited a recent report by Europol that 86 percent of criminal networks also operate legal structures.

"Each sector needs to think about how to make it harder for criminal organisations to exploit it," she said.

'Fortress' Antwerp

Belgium has become a focal point for drug gangs due to its giant Antwerp port that has served as a major smuggling gateway into Europe.

But last year the amount of cocaine seized at the facility fell by over 50 percent, from a record 116 tonnes in 2023 to 44 tonnes.

Van Wymersch said that was in part thanks to the authorities at the port ramping up the deployment of scanners and bolstering checks.

But she warned that despite this, smugglers were still finding other ways to satisfy the vast demand for illegal drugs in Europe.

That included switching to other routes and ports that are less secured to get cocaine onto the market.

"Consumption has not fallen, the street price is unchanged, and just as much is still being produced," she said.

"It would be naive to believe that, because the port of Antwerp is becoming a closed fortress, illegal activity will stop."

Using ill-gotten gains?

To try to turn the tide in Belgium, the commissioner is currently working on setting up a fund from the ill-gotten gains of traffickers seized by the state.

This could help fund anti-drug efforts ranging from aiding investigations, treating addiction and doing outreach in schools.

Van Wymersch likened it to the "polluter pays" principle -- putting trafficking revenues to use in helping to put right some of the damage.

As an example she said that if drug gangs turn a building into a laboratory without the knowledge of its owner then they could use the funds to clean up the property.

She pointed to France's agency that manages seized assets as an example, as it takes responsibility for handling the funds off the shoulders of the courts.

"It's a way of relieving the pressure on the judiciary with an independent body that can reinject the money," she said.