Customs makes another major drug seizure in the port of Antwerp: 7.5 tons of cocaine intercepted Customs have again made a large cocaine seizure in the port of Antwerp. It concerns 7.5 tons of cocaine. The shipment of drugs was hidden in a shipment of bananas on a ship arriving from Guayaquil, Ecuador. This is reported by the Federal Public Service Finance. The Antwerp Federal Judicial Police has started an investigation.
Ludwig DeWolf Fri Nov 0321:21 Customs have made a large drug seizure at quay 1742 in the Waaslandhaven. A shipment of bananas contained 7.5 tons of cocaine. It is at least the fourth major drug seizure in just a few weeks.
Not far from quay 1742, nine people were arrested who were hiding in a container. It is not yet clear whether there is a link between the people who have been arrested and the drug seizure.
The nine arrested people, including two minors, will be brought before the investigating judge on Saturday.
More and more drug seizures The port of Antwerp is a busy transit port for drug criminals. In recent weeks, several large loads of cocaine have been intercepted by customs.
In 2022, a record amount of 110 tons of cocaine was intercepted in the port of Antwerp. The previous record dated from a year earlier, when 90 tons of cocaine were intercepted.
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Gardaí probing whether huge cocaine haul has link to Hezbollah Military personnel onboard the MV Matthew as the Irish Navy escorted it into the Port of Cork after 2.2 tonnes of illicit drugs were found onboard and a number of arrests were made. Picture: Niall Carson/PA
An international investigation into the massive 2.2 tonne seizure of cocaine in Irish waters in September is examining links to Middle East militants Hezbollah and Iranian criminal gangs.
Gardaí are waiting to see if Dubai police — who visited Ireland a fortnight ago — will assist in this probe as well as wider investigations into the leaders of the Kinahan crime cartel based in the United Arab Emirates.
Gardaí are said to have been impressed by the “genuine willingness” of Dubai police to assist with these investigations, with authorities in the UAE under pressure from abroad to take action against European gang bosses based there.
The sprawling garda investigation into the seizure of 2.2 tonnes of cocaine on board the MV Matthew off the Cork coast — the biggest ever seizure of the drug in Ireland — has attracted considerable international attention, with a range of authorities from foreign countries looking to assist.
This is thought to include Colombia, where investigators believe the country’s biggest cartel, the Gulf Clan, organised the shipment.
The fact that the actual bulk cargo ship, the MV Matthew, was confiscated by Irish authorities, in a daring military operation, has set the seizure apart, investigators say.
Security sources believe the vessel was bought and operated by drug traffickers for the sole purpose of operating a “route” from South America into Europe.
Sources suspect the gang’s intention was to continue using the vessel for some years along the same route.
Investigators suspect the financing for this route goes back to the Middle East, taking in Dubai as well as possible links to Hezbollah — an Islamist militant organisation based in Lebanon — and Iranian criminals.
Sources said Hezbollah and Iranian gangs have been actively looking to “control the routes” from South America to Europe.
Last month, the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned a Lebanese and South American network of family members and business associates, including named “key Hezbollah operatives and financial facilitators”.
One of those named is actively linked to “illegal drug trafficking and money laundering” in South America, including a 500kg cocaine shipment hidden in fruit containers that was seized in El Salvador.
A number of Iranian nationals were on board the MV Matthew, and international investigations are continuing in relation to them, as well as a number of ethnic Russians.
In April 2022, OFAC sanctioned the three Kinahan leaders — Christopher Kinahan and his sons Daniel and Christopher Jr — with a combined €15m for information leading to their prosecution.
The Kinahan leaders and other senior lieutenants are still living in Dubai.
Gardaí are investigating whether any of the financing of the MV Matthew cocaine route is linked directly or indirectly to the cartel.
At the moment, it is suspected that people who have been in their circle or network are involved.
Investigations are also ongoing in South America, and officers believe that further charges could be taken abroad.
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During an inspection in the port of Rotterdam on Thursday, Customs found 464 kilos of cocaine in a shipment of scrap metal from the Dominican Republic. This concerns a lot with a street value of almost 35 million euros. This is reported by the Public Prosecution Service.
The shipment of cocaine was discovered in a shipment of scrap stainless steel. The container came from the Dominican Republic and was destined for a company in South Holland. According to the Public Prosecution Service, that company appears to have nothing to do with the smuggling.
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