European ports are hubs for drugs, the "Economist" assesses, stating that crystal methamphetamine worth 16 million euros was seized in the Irish port of Cork on February 32,8. Last year, a record amount of cocaine was seized in Antwerp, one of the main gateways for drugs to Europe. However, the newspaper points out that most of the drugs still pass customs and end up on the streets, and adds that more than a quarter of the seizures of illegal weapons and half of all murders in the EU are related to drug trafficking. According to data from Europe's main drug monitoring agency, the illegal drug market in the bloc is now worth at least €31 billion a year.
Ports are relatively safe ground for drug dealers, and the huge container traffic allows suspicious shipments to go unnoticed. Antwerp, the second largest port in Europe, after Rotterdam, handles around 290 million tons of cargo annually. Drugs in hidden places, like the inside of frozen tuna, are hard to spot.
Refrigerated containers transporting fresh produce that needs to be processed quickly are popular places for drugs to be hidden. On February 8, Southampton port authorities seized 5,7 tons of cocaine in a shipment of bananas from South America. It was the largest seizure of class one cocaine in British history.
While the production of cocaine in South America is growing and the prices on the streets of Europe are stagnating, dealers are opting for larger shipments. This may explain why the amount of cocaine seized in Europe has been increasing while the number of individual seizures has been falling since 2019, Cathy Heinlein of the RUSI Institute in London told The Economist. Meanwhile, the paradox is that greater degrees of automation and digitization in major ports result in security loopholes that drug gangs exploit.
They are increasingly stealing container codes in order to capture the cargo in which cocaine is being smuggled. According to Europol, corrupt workers can receive up to 15% of the drug's value, while others are exposed to blackmail.
As criminals become more creative, the authorities try to catch up. The use of drones is increasingly popular, thermal cameras are used to search for gang members who hijack deliveries or to monitor the suspicious movement of shipments. Antwerp became the first major port to use drones last May and has pledged to have a system of scanning all high-risk containers by 2028. Shipping companies are also scrambling to upgrade their fleets with new technology, such as evaporation sensors, smart containers and electronic seals. In January, the EU launched the European Union of Ports to improve coordination between ports, governments and private companies, and around €200 million will be invested in new scanning devices.
However, Europe is fighting a losing battle, the British newspaper points out. Considering the huge number of containers passing through the ports, scanning will not be efficient. Only 10 percent of containers from South America and a total of 1,5 percent of containers are inspected in Europe, anything over that would hold up trade. Besides, if you close one door, another will open. Medium-sized ports such as Helsingburg in Sweden and Malaga in Spain are already seeing an increase in drug traffic, no doubt the result of increased security in Rotterdam and other known drug hubs.
Corruption is difficult to root out, and vetting processes are ineffective compared to threats of violence. Many international criminal networks employ local coordinators, the return on investment makes the investment very worthwhile. "They know the area and they know the people," Luis Bohrer from the consulting company RiskIntelligence told The Economist.
The question is what the authorities can do. A better exchange of information across Europe would be helpful. However, gaps remain. The port of Piraeus in Greece has already been banned from the new port alliance due to suspicions about its Chinese owners. This reflects badly on European ports where foreign companies have a majority share.
European officials are rightly stepping up efforts along the supply chain. The EU established the Global Illicit Flows Program in 2019 and launched a new phase of the SEACOP cooperation project in January. International efforts have already borne fruit.
Assets worth €48m believed to be cocaine-related were frozen in Spain and Ecuador in February following a joint investigation with Europol. However, Ecuador, despite agreeing to greater cooperation with Europol last year, remains a strong stronghold for drug gangs. As long as demand in Europe grows, the inflow will not stop. Dealers expect another year of growth.
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