Largest overseas drug seizure ever: Belgian police seize 11,5 tons of cocaine

by druginc

Belgian police seize 11,5 tons of cocaine in 'largest overseas drug bust ever'

Antwerp - Belgian prosecutors have dealt another blow to a recently disbanded drug gang led by a former Belgian police chief, after announcing the largest overseas drug bust "in the world" this week.

Prosecutors said they had tracked the transatlantic voyage of 11,5 tons of cocaine from Guyana, on the northeast coast of South America, and confiscated it upon arrival at the port of Antwerp.

The capture is “the largest overseas drug fight ever worldwide,” federal prosecutors told Belgian media, putting the street value of the drug load at a whopping € 900 million.

The huge cargo of cocaine left a port in Guyana in late October and prosecutors were able to track the dismantling of a drug trafficking gang. This was done under the leadership of a former Belgian head of the “Drug Crimes” department, which revealed the existence of close ties between criminal gangs and different departments.

Three police officers, a port manager and a lawyer were among some twenty other criminals who were arrested as part of the operation against the "well-structured" criminal organization suspected of transporting large and "regular" drugs from South America to Belgium to orchestrate.

The record-breaking shipment has already been expected by law enforcement officials as it is suspected to have left Guyana's port following the arrest of the drug gang in Belgium. Once at sea, the drug gangs in question could no longer intercept it - ultimately trapping the party.

Cocaine drug capture among the piles of scrap metal

It was disguised as scrap metal and placed in a steel container which was in turn packed in a shipping container and then loaded onto a transatlantic ship.

Cocaine drug capture between the piles of scrap (pict)
Cocaine drug capture among the piles of scrapafb)

The dismantling of the drug gang in late September led to the arrest and indictment of 22 people. Three people in the Netherlands are still waiting for extradition.

Following the record-breaking drug fight on Wednesday, three others were arrested, including a person who is being extradited to Belgium from the Netherlands.

Sources ao IzzSo (EN), TheBrusselsTimes (EN)

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