Antwerp, Belgium, Oct 6 (AFP/APP):Bomb explosions, shootings and even kidnapping of children: drug trafficking around Antwerp in northern Belgium is generating increasingly violent crime, which the authorities are struggling to tackle. Antwerp is Europe’s second largest goods port after Rotterdam, but is the number one gateway for cocaine to the continent, thanks to its closer trade links with South America. The drug often arrives concealed in cargos of fruit or in the walls of shipping containers, mainly from Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia. With almost 40 tonnes of cocaine seized by the end of September, 2020 is on course to beat the annual record of 61.8 tonnes. To this figure should be added another 70 or so tonnes intercepted in Latin America on their way to Antwerp. Even then, according to UN estimates, seizures represent only 10 percent of what enters the country, Kristian Vanderwaeren, Belgium’s customs administrator general, told AFP. On the street, a gram of cocaine sells for 50 euros, a mark-up on the import price which offers astronomical profits for the networks that control the trade. And a parallel economy has rapidly developed to launder these profits, through luxury cars, small shops and real estate. “Criminal money has … Continue reading Illicit drug trade at Belgian port fuels crime wave