The port of Antwerp is used by many criminals for the import of drugs. A large number of the criminal leaders who are active in the port of Antwerp are in the Netherlands. “It is very useful for criminals. You count out the money in Amsterdam and you do your logistics across the border where the Dutch judiciary cannot see you,” says De Wever.
If Belgium is unable to tackle drug crime on their side of the border, this will also have consequences for crime in the Netherlands. “There are no borders for criminals,” says Joris van der Aa, crime reporter for the Gazet van Antwerpen. “If they experience less resistance in one country, they simply relocate their activities.”
More agents
De Wever therefore hopes to cooperate much more with the Dutch judiciary and police. But he mainly hopes for 300 new agents who can be deployed against drug crime in Antwerp.
According to professor of criminology at the University of Ghent, Tom Decorte, more police officers do not necessarily have to lead to a more effective approach to drug crime. “An extra 100 million is now being released for the police. But it is still a fraction of what the opposing party has at its disposal,” says Decorte.
According to Decorte, it is impossible to match the billions that drug criminals earn, so the police are always a few steps behind. Justice should therefore do something about the earnings model of the criminals, says Decorte.
Van der Aa is also sure that with the cracking of the encrypted messaging service, no final blow has been given to the drug criminals. “They will not dare to take drugs out of the harbor for the time being. But I have no illusion that they have been eliminated by this. The opponent is just a bit too big and the business just a bit too important.”
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