The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy add Spain have agreed to bolster their cooperation with Latin American nations to combat organised crime, particularly drug trafficking.
Throughout a gathering of ministers and officers on Friday in Amsterdam, a metropolis hit by drug-related violence in recent times, the six international locations pledged to strengthen ports and maritime safety, in addition to reinforce their use of expertise to sort out crime gangs.
Amsterdam noticed a collection of violent crimes in the previous few years, together with the slaying of crime reporter Peter R. de Vries and a lawyer representing a witness in a gangland killings investigation.
The Netherlands and Belgium are house to the foremost ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, two of Europe's major entry factors for cocaine.
Greater than 214 tons of the drug have been seized in Europe in 2020, a 6% enhance from the earlier 12 months, and consultants from the European Monitoring Middle for Medicine and Drug Dependancy consider that quantity may attain 300 tons this 12 months.
Belgian Justice Minister Vincent Van Quickenborne, who attended the assembly, was put below safety final month after 4 individuals have been arrested as a consequence of their suspected hyperlinks to drug criminals that have been plotting of kidnapping the politician.
“I believe we’ve entered in a brand new section, a brand new section referred to as narco-terrorism, a section the place the narco-terrorists attempt to destabilize the society and get their grip on society," mentioned Van Quickenborne.
"And naturally, we are going to by no means enable our international locations to turn out to be narco-states such as you see them typically in Latin America.”
With a road worth estimated at 10.5 billion euros in 2020 and about 3.5 million European residents reporting having used it up to now 12 months, cocaine is the second-most used drug within the EU after hashish.
The growth of the cocaine market has gone hand in hand with an increase in violence and corruption within the EU, with fierce competitors between traffickers resulting in an increase in homicides and intimidation.
“Criminals have no idea borders, so we now have to work collectively,” Van Quickenborne mentioned after the assembly that was additionally attended by representatives from European Union police and justice companies Europol and Eurojust, together with officers from the European Fee.
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