Belgium cocaine bust: two shippers released; three other suspects wanted

THE Customs Anti-Narcotics Unit (CANU) has released two shippers in connection with the 11.5 tonnes of cocaine, disguised as a shipment of scrap metal, that was busted in Belgium on Wednesday.

The two shippers were questioned, statements taken and they were released after they voluntarily visited CANU Thursday afternoon.
Three persons from another agency are being sought as investigations continue into the Guyana multi-million dollar cocaine seizure.

CANU officials noted that the United States Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Belgian authorities are collaborating on the cocaine bust.
The massive load of cocaine left a port in Guyana in October and Belgian prosecutors were able to track it, following the dismantlement of a drug trafficking gang led by a former Belgian counter-narcotics chief, which revealed the existence of tight-knit links between criminal gangs and counter-narcotics and law-enforcement officials.

Counter-narcotics prosecutors said they had tracked the transatlantic journey of 11.5-tonnes of cocaine from Guyana, on the northeastern coast of South America, and seized it upon its arrival at the Port of Antwerp.

The catch is “the largest overseas drug bust ever, worldwide,” federal prosecutors told Belgian media, estimating the street value of the drug load at €900 million.
Three police officers, a port manager and a lawyer were among some 20 arrested as part of the operation targeting the “well-structured” criminal organisation suspected of orchestrating large and “regular” drug shipments from South America to Belgium.

The shipment of cocaine 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.