A senior judge in Belgium has warned that the country is turning into a ‘narco state’ with drug crime spiralling out of control.
Belgium’s ports in Antwerp and Rotterdam are major European entry points for cocaine smuggling, with 70 per cent of cocaine entering the continent arriving there.
The president of the Antwerp court of appeal, Bart Willocx, said this is leaving the country vulnerable to mafia groups and criminality.
Speaking to the Guardian, Willocx said: ‘The amount of money that is involved – to influence people, to corrupt people and to bribe – it is so big that it is really a danger for the stability of our society.’
He added that Belgium was working to avoid becoming a narco-state: ‘But it is an evolution and it is a pressure – it is a threat.’
Without immediate action, innocent civilians – who have nothing to do with the criminal underworld – risk getting wrapped up in the violence.
Willocx’s court published an open letter from an anonymous judge last October who said mafia groups had taken hold of the country, adding that they had become ‘a parallel force that challenges not only the police, but the judiciary.’
Guido Vermeiren, prosecutor general for the Antwerp and Limburg regions, agreed with the letter, adding that Belgium had become a place with ‘threats’ and ‘corruption.’
A Police officer inspects the cargo of a truck during a major control operation in Wetteren, Belgium
Members of the National Anti-drugs Secretary, stand next to bags with cocaine hidden in sugar, seized during ‘Dulzura’ operation in Puerto Caacupemi, Asuncion on July 15, 2024. The cocaine shipment was bound for Antwerp, Belgium, according to local authorities
This photograph shows cannabis hidden in a boxing punching bag seized by customs officers at Brussels Airport
In 2023, cocaine seizures in Europe hit a record for the seventh consecutive year, with 419 metric tonnes confiscated by authorities.
Belgium led the way with 123 tonnes – 116 tonnes in Antwerp alone – followed by Spain (118 tonnes) and the Netherlands (59 tonnes), as the three countries with major ports accounted for 72% of the total amount grabbed by agents.
In 2024, seizures fell to 44 tonnes in Belgium, which the EU drugs agency attributed to better concealment of the drug and criminals moving to smaller ports.
However, seizures likely represent only 10-20 percent of the total amount of the drug in circulation, and gangs fully anticipate that a proportion of their deliveries will be discovered.
Antwerp has long been the preferred point of entry for gangs smuggling cocaine into Europe, with its steady flow of fresh fruit crates offering the perfect concealment for contraband.
Most of the drugs originate in Colombia, as well as Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay and Brazil, from where they are imported – often by Albanian cartels – to Europe’s second largest seaport.
Willocx described the devastating effects of the drug trade on Belgian society, including on children as young as 13, who have been bribed by gangs to steal cocaine from ports.
‘We really have a problem and we should make more investments in staff and in other resources to cope with it,’ Willocx said.
The judge said that people who refuse to comply with the gangs face threats and attacks, saying port employees who hesitate ‘received letters, photos of their children’ and experienced ‘attacks at their homes with homemade explosives.’
Gruesome cases of gang violence related to drugs have been plaguing the western European country for years.
In October of last year, the dismembered body of Tijn, a 25-year-old man who had gone missing from Alkmaar in September, was discovered at a holiday home in Belgium, with reports suggesting his death was linked to a drugs dispute.
In 2022, 46-year-old Yacine El M’Rabet was tortured to death in Brussels for reportedly stealing cocaine from his bosses Michaël Pindeville and Ahmed El Battouti.
He was discovered on the side of the street after reportedly having been burned on his genitals with an iron and with a homemade blowtorch, doused with ammonia, and beaten with a gas canister and a metal bar, which was also used to rape him.
That same year, Dutch media reported that a 17-year-old had his earlobe cut off, tendons in his hand severed, and a piece of one of his toes removed after he was suspected of having tipped off another gang about the location of 300kg of cocaine in East Flanders.
In a particularly hideous case, an 11-year-old girl was shot dead in Antwerp in 2023 after being caught up in the crossfire of warring drug traffickers.
The child, who was from the Merksem district, was having dinner with her family when the house they live in was shot at.
Belgian customs officers search for drugs in a container at Antwerp’s port
A Belgian Malinois dog of a customs K9 unit inspects crates during a demonstration on the sidelines of a joint press briefing of the Belgian and Dutch customs authorities on the cocaine intercepted in the Antwerp and Rotterdam harbours
Judges also face danger, according to Vermeiren, who said he knew of several people who were under permanent protection, including the author of the anonymous letter.
‘From one day to another, you have to leave your house, you have to leave your family and you are going to live somewhere where nobody knows where you are,’ Willocx said.
This comes as judges in Antwerp have been waiting two years for security scanners to be installed in the courthouse to screen convicted criminals for potentially dangerous items.
Underfunding is a big problem, with judges saying that there are doubts about adequate resources.
Vermeiren said the scale of threat may be influencing judges, with both men agreeing that court officials could potentially make up a procedural error to avoid a conviction out of fear.
‘It could happen,’ Willocx said. ‘There is too much pressure on prosecutors or judges. What you see is that if we go on like this, a number of judges will prefer not to work in criminal affairs because of safety reasons, because of the enormous pressure.’
The anonymous letter was published as part of a campaign started by courts in Antwerp to raise awareness about the crisis taking over the Belgian justice system.
Judges have proposed 100 reforms, outlining the need for safer courts and higher pay as well as tackling prison overcrowding.