Mafias are increasingly infiltrating European ports, which they use to bring drugs to the continent. Criminal organizations devise new techniques to escape control, using and changing the codes of the containers themselves, often with the collaboration of corrupt workers. The latest report, prepared by the European Police Office (Europol) in conjunction with the Steering Committee on the security of the ports of Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam, focused attention on new techniques to stop traffickers.
Ports in the European Union handle around 90 million containers each year, but authorities can inspect only 2 to 10 percent of them. And so it is estimated that at least 200 tons of cocaine have been smuggled out of control from the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam alone in recent years. The inability to control all containers presents a challenge for law enforcement and an opportunity for criminal networks that need access to logistics centers to facilitate their operations.
Techniques used by criminal networks
The main way criminals can manage to evade controls is by bribing shipping company personnel, dockers, importers, shipping companies or representatives of national authorities and generally any actors necessary to gain entry for their actions. illegal shipments However, this approach requires bribing large numbers of accomplices, which requires a lot of organization and expense. Organized crime is looking for new ways to intensify its efforts and minimize the risk of property loss, requiring far fewer people to be bribed.
Europol’s report looked at various techniques using container reference codes that require bribing only one person at the source, as well as bribing or leaking cargo removal teams on arrival; shipment. When a container is shipped abroad, the shipping company assigns it a unique reference code (PIN or QR) after receiving payment for the shipping. The code is used to verify that the container can be released at the destination port and receive the customer’s container. Criminals, predominantly using bribes, infiltrate companies involved in the logistics process and secretly obtain the reference code of the container they know will be containing the drug shipments. With the referral code allowing release, criminals access the drug container as if they were legitimate customers. While the drugs are removed for smuggling after leaving the port, the container is returned to its rightful owner, abandoned or lost along the way.
The “rob/rob” method is one of the main methods used by traders. It consists of secretly loading illegal goods into “clean” containers without the cooperation of the shipping company. The drug is placed in an easily accessible location for transport to an importer with the remainder of the cargo. Once the drugs arrive at their destination, they are recovered inside or outside the port by extraction teams associated with criminal organisations.
On arrival at European ports, another trick is to transfer the goods from a container from third countries to a container assigned to transport within the Union, as these containers are rarely inspected. Also in this case the cooperation of port or unloading workers is needed.
Another variant involves cloning the container: the registration number of the shipment containing drugs is copied and a “clone” is created, which will then indeed be subject to browser control (in fact, it will have already left the original port area). But even this strategy requires the support of insiders operating in the port of destination, from port personnel to irregular landing teams. The latter usually enter the port in a “Trojan container” that hides the goods by allowing them to arrive a few days before their arrival. Due to the complexity of the follow-up process after the arrival of the containers and the need for on-site support, this strategy is quite complex.
In general, drug shipments can be stored in bags or mixed with legitimate goods (for example, stored in fruit crates). Alternatively, it can be physically embedded in marble blocks, chemically embedded in fabrics, or even concealed in parts of the ship such as the roof or floor. Generally, human smugglers collect various insider information to ensure the safe transportation of contraband in containers. This allows them to target posts that are least likely to be moderated: thus identifying safe ones, called “green lines.”
Major European ports
The main European entry points have always been the major ports of Spain and Northern Europe (Belgium and the Netherlands). Specifically, Antwerp, Hamburg and Rotterdam, the ports with the highest container flows in the EU, are the ports most severely affected by seaborne drug trafficking. In fact, it is easier to hide drugs among the huge flow of cargo and the various actors with access to these ports.
European criminal groups often operate along ethnic, familial and linguistic lines, such as Moroccan or Albanian gangs and Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta. Cocaine has become increasingly pure and is now the second most popular drug in Western and Central Europe after cannabis.
Among the Italian ports that Guardia di Finanza has most seized and controlled is the port of Gioia Tauro, which has become the crossroads of world drug trafficking. Add to this the port of La Spezia, where cocaine smuggling is on the agenda.
Source: Today IT
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
