Guyana linked to historic scrap metal cocaine bust in Belgium
-two persons held here for questioning
Law enforcement officials in Belgium are probing the discovery of 11.5 tons of cocaine, which was unearthed in a container of scrap metal from Guyana and local authorities have since arrested two persons including the alleged shipper for questioning.
The shipment which is being deemed “the largest overseas drug bust ever, worldwide” was seized upon its arrival at the Port of Antwerp. It carries an estimated street value of 900 million Euros.
Head of the Customs Anti-Narcotic Unit ( CANU) James Singh yesterday afternoon told Stabroek News that two persons have been arrested for questioning. One of the suspects is said to be the alleged shipper.
Singh said that local authorities are in contact and are assisting their overseas counterparts with the investigation.
The Brussels Times yesterday reported counternarcotics prosecutors saying that they tracked the transatlantic journey of the cocaine from Guyana.
“It was disguised as scrap metal and placed inside a steel container which was in turn packed into a sea container and loaded into a transatlantic vessel,” the report said.
According to the Brussels Times, the shipment is suspected to be connected to a recently spilt drug gang which is led by a former Belgian police chief.
“The massive load of cocaine left a port in Guyana on late October and prosecutors were able to track (it) following the dismantlement of a drug trafficking gang led by a former Belgian counternarcotics chief which revealed the existence of tight-knit links between criminal gangs and counternarcotics and law enforcement officials,” the Brussels Times report explained.
The Belgian newspaper further said that law enforcement officers were expecting the “record-breaking” shipment since it is suspected it left the port of Guyana after the drug gang’s arrest in Belgium.
“Three police officers, a port manager and a lawyer were among twenty others who were arrested as part of the operation which targeted the “well- structured” criminal organisation suspected of orchestrating large and “regular” drug shipments from South America to Belgium,” the report noted.
The dismantlement of the drug gang in late September, the Brussels Times said has led to the arrest and indictment of twenty-two persons, three of whom are still in the Netherlands awaiting extradition.
“Following the record-breaking drug bust on Wednesday, three others were arrested, including one person who is facing extradition to Belgium from the Netherlands,” the report added.
In August, authorities in the German port city of Hamburg found over €300 million worth of cocaine in a cargo ship container from Guyana containing rice.
The cocaine which weighed 1.5 tons was found in a freight container. It is believed that the drug was inserted in the Dominican Republic where the vessel stopped before the cargo was taken to Hamburg.