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EU Kokain Beschlagnahmungen infographic
Graphic zeigt massive Steigerung bei Kokain Beschlagnahmungen seit 2016.
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NARCOTICS

Europ.Union Kokain Beschlagnahmungen

By Duncan Mil

August 14, 2023 - Seit 2016 haben Behörden Rekordmengen von Kokain in der EU - vor allem in Häfen in den Niederlanden, Belgien und Spanien – beschlagnahmt, wie das European Monitoring Centre for Drugs berichtet.

EU member states seized a record 303 tonnes of cocaine in 2021.

Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain are the countries reporting the highest volumes of cocaine seizures, with most of the drugs arriving from Panama, Colombia, and Ecuador.

In 2022, the quantity of cocaine seized in Antwerp, Belgium’s leading container terminal, rose to 110 tonnes from 91 tonnes in 2021, with volumes increasing annually since 2016.

In the Netherlands, Dutch police intercepted a further 52.5 tonnes, according to the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction.

Belgian authorities say foreign criminal organisations also import violent and ruthless operations. Trafficking in Antwerp has led to a surge of violence, with gun battles and grenade attacks regularly occurring.

“Violence is growing in scale and brutality. In the past, criminals shot people in the leg as a warning, now they shoot them in the head,” Ylva Johansson, the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, said.

On Thursday (August 10), officials in Rotterdam found 8,064 one-kilogram packets of cocaine worth €600 million ($661 million) in a consignment of bananas from Ecuador.

Thursday’s announcement came a day after Fernando Villavicencio, a leading candidate in Ecuador’s presidential election, was assassinated at a campaign rally. He had earlier reported threats against him and his team, allegedly made by a drug-trafficking gang.

Sources
PUBLISHED: 14/08/2023; STORY: Graphic News; PICTURES: Getty Images
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