Belgium exporting more drugs to South America
Customs at Brussels Airport are intercepting more and more drugs bound for South America. The drugs are believed to originate in Dutch drug labs north of the border. They are sent by mail from destinations across the border in Belgium.
People are used to hearing about drugs being smuggled to Belgium from South America, but now the opposite seems to be happening. Police believe that the Dutch drugs are used to pay for heroin and cocaine that are smuggled into the country from South America.
Carol Vercarre of Halle-Vilvoorde prosecutors explains: “We’re talking about items sent in the post to destinations in South America, sometimes South East Asia too”.
The packets contain synthetic drugs including XTC. The parcels are intercepted by customs at Zaventem. The police investigation often shows the drugs were mailed from locations in Belgium close to the Dutch border, while the drugs come from synthetic drug labs in the Netherlands.
More drugs are still entering Belgium than we export, but the export operation is growing. Police and prosecutors in Halle-Vilvoorde, Antwerp and Limburg are now co-operating closely with the customs and their Dutch counterparts.
