Posted on 01/01/2022 4:47:11 AM PST by RandFan
Antwerp, now the No. 1 port in Europe for cocaine busts, has seen a rise in gang violence and corruption
ANTWERP, Belgium—For centuries, goods flowing through the giant port here have enriched this elegant city, known for its diamonds, art and fashion.
Now a different import from across the Atlantic—cocaine—has unleashed a gusher of cash that officials say is swamping Antwerp with corruption, violence and economic distortion.
Authorities have seized 88 metric tons of cocaine stashed in containers from Latin America this year, nearly 10 times the figure in 2014.
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To sneak their drugs through the port, traffickers are paying port workers multiples of their monthly salaries to move containers for surreptitious unloading, bribing customs officers to help them evade inspections, and prosecutors and police, including senior officers, to avoid the law, officials say.
“Every layer of society is infected,” said Mr. De Wever, the mayor.
The effects are easy enough to miss if you’re not paying attention, he said, especially for those living in the wealthier south of the city.
The money is pouring into poorer areas with large immigrant populations in the north of the city, where many of the criminals hail from. Criminal gangs give money to causes, such as youth soccer teams, to burnish their reputations, officials say.
Mobsters can then rely on teenagers to watch for license plates of cops or swarm police to hamper drug arrests.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
Antwerp Vice, starring Hercule “Sonny” Poirot and “Rico” Van Der Tubbs.
Sounds like the Wall Street Journal disapproves of the Independent Businesses the CIA controls.
Does this spell the end of America-hating lefties’ trashing of the U.S. by comparing it unfavorably with lower-crime European countries?
“ Latin America”
Nice way of saying Cuba, Venezuela, and all the other leftist governments and rebel armies there.
RE: A repeat of Miami in the 1980s.
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But this time without Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas.
How can anyone cope?
Miami Vice synopsis:
1984-1990.
This series is largely remembered for the stylish clothes Detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs wore, the soundtrack, and its distinct visuals. But beneath the veneer is a surprisingly dark cop show. The cocaine boom of the 1980s framed many stories about drugs and murder, with Crockett and Tubbs often resorting to violence in the course of their work. Wikipedia
RE: “ Latin America”
Nice way of saying Cuba, Venezuela, and all the other leftist governments and rebel armies there.
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They get along surprisingly well down there without even being able to speak or understand Latin.
Hi.
For a perspective, I spoke with a special agent of the FBI out of the Tampa bureau. Between them, the Coast Guard and other agencies in their jurisdiction, they confiscated over 80 tons of cocaine in 2018. Tonnes.
He told me they are lucky to get 20%.
5.56mm
The money is pouring into poorer areas with large immigrant populations in the north of the city.
Those darn Amish!
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