The port of Antwerp has the dubious claim to fame as the main entry point for cocaine in Europe. But with critics citing a weak central government and divided law enforcement system, can Belgium ever win the war on drugs?

In early January, just hours before Belgian authorities announced a shocking new record (they had seized nearly 110 tonnes of cocaine in 2022 at the port in Antwerp, surpassing the previous record of 90 tonnes in 2021), tragedy struck in a northern Antwerp suburb. An 11-year-old girl was dead from five bullet wounds, an innocent bystander killed when unknown gunmen sprayed her home with a Kalashnikov assault rifle.

Compounding the tragedy of a young girl killed are fears across Antwerp of retaliation, as the victim was the niece of one of Belgium’s top accused drug traffickers, Othman el Ballouti. Authorities claim el Ballouti runs a massive cocaine smuggling operation through Antwerp’s port from the safety of Dubai, which has been reluctant to arrest and extradite Belgian suspects.

While homicide remains rare in Belgium (1,150 killings were recorded in 2020 among a population of 11.5 million), the murder could hardly come as a surprise: Antwerp has been in the throes of a multifaceted gang war over the huge amounts of cocaine flooding the port. More than 50 bombings and gun attacks on buildings since last summer have been linked to major traffickers, according to the police.

With a weak central government and a political environment and law enforcement system deeply divided between rival French- and Dutch-speaking factions, Belgium offers drug traffickers almost perfect conditions to thrive. The combination of the European Union single market, a port so physically large that officials estimate only two per cent of incoming containers can be checked, a thriving trade in easily laundered diamonds and gold, and close access to a modern transportation network spanning northern Europe has created an organised crime monster.