Drug containers with tons of cocaine headed to Belgium seized in Costa Rica and Panama
The port of Antwerp, in Belgium, escaped this weekend from receiving containers loaded with tons of drugs from Central America.
The Costa Rican Drug Control Police (PCD) seized Sunday night 1.9 tons of cocaine hydrochloride extracted from two containers at the port of Moín (TCM) bound for the port of Antwerp in Belgium.
According to the Ministry of Public Security (MSP), both containers had fresh fruit as legal cargo. However, mixed inside there were boxes and bags to transport the drug to Europe.
Costa Rican Security Minister Michael Soto explained that since 2020, authorities have found 39 containers with some type of drug inside. Soto recalled that a kilo of cocaine in Costa Rica costs around US$7,000 and in Europe it can reach US$30,000.
In May 2021, Belgian police located 999 kilograms of cocaine in the port of Antwerp in a Costa Rican export of pineapple juice.
Panama-Honduras Connection
Last Friday, a container with 867 packages of drugs was seized by the authorities on the Atlantic coast of Panama, in the port village of Cristóbal, province of Colón.
The packages came in large gray and blue bags inside a container from Honduras, Central America, and were destined for Belgium.
The illicit substance was located during an investigation carried out by Panama's National Police, officials from the Anti-Drug Prosecutor's Office in Colón and Guna Yala, besides the National Customs Authority.
Port of Antwerp
Antwerp police arrested 45 people last month as part of an international effort to crack down on these illicit drug networks.
Last year, the European police agency (Europol) found that the epicenter of Europe's cocaine market had shifted north, mainly to the port of Antwerp. According to the Europol report published in September 2021, the main sending countries were Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil and South American countries in general. The drugs then escaped to Holland and then to the rest of Europe.
“In Europe, you have to be aware of one thing: if you leave the cocaine mafia alone for a long time, sooner or later you will have to deal with narcoterrorism. Just look at the history of our country”, said Major Sergio Penaranda and Lieutenant Colonel Sergio Gomez, quoted by the Belgian newspaper Nieuwsblad. Last week the two Colombian officials were invited to Antwerp as speakers at the Secure Harbor Congress (Congres Beveiligde Haven).
(VIV)
Header image: Members of the National Anti-Drug Police Directorate (DNPA), display 1,460 kilos of seized cocaine during a press conferece at the premises of the Security Secretariat, in Tegucigalpa, on February 28, 2022.
© Belga Photo: Orlando SIERRA / AFP