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SİRKÜLER NO: 6.12 / 404-235 = 04/07/2023

Üyesi bulunduğumuz FONASBA' dan 30.06.2023 tarihinde almış olduğumuz e- posta mesajı aşağıdaki gibidir.

‘’Dear all, 

Those present at the ECASBA Seminar in Brussels last week will have heard the presentation by Hilde Bruggeman and Damian Viccars of WSC on the issues around the importation of drugs into Europe through ports such as Antwerp and Rotterdam. Members will also be aware that this topic will be the subject of a workshop at the European Shipping Summit on 19th  September organised jointly between WSC and ECASBA. Such is the impact of the drugs trade through European ports that it is now a top priority for Europol, the EU law enforcement agency, as reported by POLITICO Today:

DRUG-RELATED VIOLENCE, CORRUPTION SOARING

EUROPOL CHIEF WARNS ON ESCALATING DRUG CRIME THREAT: Ahead of the EU leaders’ meeting in Brussels, the head of the bloc’s law enforcement agency, Europol, sought to bring their attention to a problem she says can undermine rule of law and chip away at the foundations of democracy: Worsening criminality linked to illegal drugs. 

EU becomes No. 1: Speaking to Playbook ahead of the EUCO, Catherine De Bolle said several of the bloc’s countries are facing extreme violence and mounting corruption as Europe becomes the primary global marketplace for drug gangs. 

‘Tough and hard violence’: “The European Union has become more important compared to the United States” for drug gangs, De Bolle said. “What is really worrying to us is the increase in violence. Not only regular violence but contract killings, torture, explosions — really tough and hard violence with a lot of dead people.”

In a city near you: Politicians have warned of “narco-terrorism” plaguing Antwerp, the affluent Belgian port city. Gang members have become increasingly brazen, tossing grenades into storefronts and engaging in shootouts that, in January, resulted in the death of an 11-year-old girl. In the Netherlands, the murders of a prominent crime journalist and a lawyer have jolted the nation into toughening its approach to drug gangs. 

When criminals take over: But that’s just scratching the surface, according to De Bolle, who says criminal gangs are also targeting smaller ports in Germany and Spain to get their products into the EU market. “We discovered one harbor where everyone was corrupted,” she said, declining to name the port. “You can have these really tricky situations where criminals have actually taken over.” 

‘They want to decide’: The flip side of violence is creeping corruption and erosion of rule of law, as gangs seek to infiltrate ports, courts, local government and even police forces. “They are infiltrating our societies,” said De Bolle, a former head of Belgium’s federal police. “They want to decide on big issues in our societies, and we need this to be a priority in coming years if we want to save our system.”

Time to wake up: If that sounds dire, it’s because De Bolle — whose agency coordinates work among national police forces across Europe — believes “we are behind.” While the Europol boss applauded efforts by six countries (Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands) to form a crime-fighting coalition to jointly lead investigations, she said leaders needed to make the fight against organized crime an EU-wide priority if they are to preserve faith in the system.’’

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