At the end of October, a Belgian investigating magistrate caused a stir by publishing an open letter asking her country’s government for “urgent” help.
The official claimed that drug trafficking was turning Belgium into a narco-state and warned that the rule of law was threatened in this country located in the heart of Europe and whose capital is also the capital of the European Union (EU).
“Are we becoming a narco-state? Exaggerated? According to our anti-drug commissioner, this evolution has already begun,” accused the judge from Antwerp, a city whose port has become one of the main entrances for cocaine into Europe.
The investigating magistrate described drug trafficking as an “organized threat that undermines institutions.”
“Large mafia structures have been consolidated, which have become a parallel force that challenges not only the police, but also the judiciary,” he added.
Although experts consider that the claim that Belgium is already a narco-state is an exaggeration, they warn that drug trafficking has become a major problem in the European country.
Due to a growing demand for drugs throughout Europe, drug traffickers take advantage of the strategic location of Belgium and the port of Antwerp as a distribution point for illicit merchandise.
But perhaps the most important factor that has made Antwerp a hub of cocaine in Europe is the fact that its port is one of the largest on the continent: the constant flow of containers offers opportunities to hide illicit products in shipments.
“The accusation is exaggerated”
“Antwerp has the second largest port in Europe and traditionally receives goods from Latin America. Therefore, it has become a natural entry point, along with the port of Rotterdam, for cocaine,” Letizia Paoli, criminologist and professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Louvain, in Belgium, tells BBC Mundo.
“And the Dutch authorities began to intensify controls in Rotterdam before the Belgian authorities,” he continues.
“I think the accusation of ‘narco-state’ is exaggerated, but there are worrying trends, without a doubt,” he adds.
Last year, Belgian customs officials intercepted 44 tons of cocaine in the port of Antwerp, a significant drop from the 121 tons seized in 2023.
But Belgian authorities say these figures are not necessarily a sign of progress.
During the first half of this year, 51 tons of cocaine destined for Belgium were intercepted in South America, an increase of 155% compared to 20 tons in the same period last year.
But the problem is not only limited to the south of the American continent, but goes beyond.
In December 2024, Dominican Republic authorities reported the seizure of more than nine tons of cocaine, the largest in the country’s history.
The drugs were found in two containers of bananas coming from Guatemala and destined for the port of Antwerp.
1,977 cases of drug trafficking
This relatively new Belgian problem is not limited to Antwerp.
In Brussels, the capital of the country and of the EU, drug trafficking is also leaving its mark.
According to figures from the Brussels police, 1,977 cases of drug trafficking were registered in 2023, an increase of 26% compared to 2022 and 76% since 2015.
Also in 2023, 6,595 incidents of drug possession were recorded in the Belgian capital.
And the violence, which some link to drug use and trafficking, appears to be getting out of the authorities’ control.
In 2024, 89 shootings were recorded in the Belgian capital and reports indicate that this year the number will be even higher.
Likewise, since last year, Brussels has cataloged 16 areas that are considered especially dangerous called hotspotsmainly related to criminal gangs and drug trafficking.
Drug-related deaths
There have also been several drug-related deaths, something very rare just a decade ago.
“While in 2013 we did not find any murders related to the cocaine trade in Belgium, between 2014 and 2025 we found that in Antwerp, which is the center of cocaine trafficking, there were six drug-related murders,” explains criminologist Letizia Paoli.
“But if we consider that around 160 homicides occur in a single year in Belgium, drug-related murders are not many. They do not even represent 10% of the murders associated with high-level cocaine trafficking in Antwerp, there were only six in ten years,” he clarifies.
The open letter points out that criminal organizations have infiltrated ports, customs, police and even the prison and judicial systems.
It also claims that judges, including the author, have been threatened and calls for government action.
Criminologist Letizia Paoli assures that she supports the call for the authorities to allocate more resources and offer greater protection to magistrates: “They are really reasonable and necessary requests.”
But he insists there is no reason to talk about Belgium as a narco-state.
In his opinion, a narco-state has three characteristics: a very high level of violence that affects community life, drug-related corruption so widespread that it reaches the highest levels of government, and a drug economy that contributes a lot to the GDP.
“None of these three criteria apply to Belgium,” he points out.
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