Police opened an investigation after a video filmed by dockworkers in the port of Antwerp shows them laughing as one rips open a pack of intercepted cocaine to taste it before the drugs were seized.
The video shows a handful of dockworkers around a pile of wrapped cocaine, with one working to release one small package.
"You have to taste it to see it is cocaine," one worker can be heard saying as the rest laugh around him, according to VRT news.
The video, filmed in April, was picked up by employee organisation CEPA last week, who said the men were not involved in a drug trafficking organisation but had made an inappropriate joke.
"The people involved did not follow the guidelines that we prescribe," Yann Pauwels of CEPA told the outlet, adding that it was "very unfortunate" that the employees chose to deal with their discovery by taking photos and videos of it.
The drugs were seized by the police, who the workers reportedly called themselves, making the video as they waited for the officers to arrive.
Federal police have started an investigation both into the reported drug load and the workers, according to De Standaard.
"This is not okay behaviour," Sarah Frederickx, a spokesperson with the federal police said. "We will identify the men who are recognizable in the images and prepare an official report."
Gabriela Galindo
The Brussels Times
