All or part of the assets seized or confiscated from convicted drug traffickers will be used by authorities to fund investments that support the fight against drug trafficking, according to the newspaper L’Echo.
“We have received a clear mandate from the ministers of the Interior and Justice to develop a system for asset recovery. The government agreement stipulates that criminal assets can be utilised in the fight against organised crime,” said Ine Van Wymersch, the National Drug Commissioner, to L’Echo.
It is too early to know the amount the fund will contain, the newspaper pointed out. According to the latest figures from the Central Office for Seizures and Confiscations, approximately €40 million was confiscated in 2022 in cases related to drug trafficking. “The project is in its infancy, and we need to start by establishing a clear and transparent procedure,” commented the Drugs Commissioner.
In addition to targeting criminals’ finances, it is also necessary to tackle the logistical chains of trafficking, Ine Van Wymersch emphasised in her Friday night interview with RTL television news. “If weapons can get through, so can drugs. By erecting barriers to these logistical chains – as we have done in Antwerp – we can increase the resilience of all logistical hubs within our territory and beyond,” she stressed, highlighting the international aspect of the problem.
“The distinction between producing countries, consuming countries, and transit countries no longer holds. Belgium is a producing country, a consumer country, and a country that exports drugs worldwide,” she insisted.
Clandestine laboratories for the production of synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine and ecstasy are regularly found in Belgium, along with waste from this production being dumped in nature.
