European Seaports: Battlegrounds of Transnational Drug Trafficking
European seaports are becoming critical battlegrounds in the fight against transnational drug trafficking. Major ports such as Antwerp (Belgium), Rotterdam (Netherlands), and Hamburg (Germany) have increasingly been used as “gateways” for smuggling cocaine and other narcotics into the continent.
According to the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), in 2023 European authorities seized as much as 419 tons of cocaine, with more than 70% intercepted at these key ports. Antwerp alone accounted for 121 tons, earning its reputation as the largest hub for cocaine trafficking in Europe.
Criminal networks employ highly sophisticated methods: concealing narcotics in containers with legitimate paperwork, using front companies, and at times recruiting or bribing port staff to bypass inspections. The challenge is compounded by the fact that only a small fraction of all containers can realistically be scanned, leaving significant vulnerabilities in the system.
The Challenges Facing European Ports
The problem extends beyond Belgium. Hamburg, Germany, has seen seizures of cocaine increase by an astonishing 750% in just five years, accompanied by reports of bribery and corruption among state officials and port personnel. Such issues demonstrate that enforcement efforts must go beyond inspections to confront entrenched networks of power and influence embedded in port economies and communities.
The European Union’s Response
To counter these threats, the EU has established a range of cooperative initiatives. One of the earliest is the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre – Narcotics (MAOC-N), launched in 2007 to gather intelligence, coordinate surveillance, and support maritime interdiction operations. Over the years, MAOC-N has been responsible for the seizure of hundreds of tons of cocaine and cannabis.
Yet corruption at ports continues to undermine these efforts. This is where the POSEIDON Project, funded by the EU Internal Security Fund, comes into play. Its primary goal is to reduce corruption and criminal infiltration of European ports by analyzing vulnerabilities, sharing best practices, and developing joint risk assessment tools that can be applied across different countries.
POSEIDON: Building Systemic Defenses
One of the key outcomes of the POSEIDON Project is the POSEIDON Dashboard—a platform compiling effective measures tested at leading ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Hamburg. This platform serves as a model for other ports to adopt. Additionally, the Port Security Steering Committee has been instrumental in creating common standards for port security, financial investigation, and inter-agency cooperation between public and private actors.
The project aligns with the EU’s broader Roadmap for maritime security, which emphasizes proactive cooperation to disrupt drug trafficking networks by improving interdiction capabilities, dismantling criminal structures, and closing off internal corruption channels.
A Global Lesson
The challenges faced by Europe’s ports reflect the darker side of globalization, where drug markets can seamlessly connect across continents. Nevertheless, cross-border cooperation and systemic approaches such as POSEIDON are laying the groundwork for more resilient defenses.
What makes POSEIDON unique is its focus on “targeting vulnerabilities” rather than “seizing more drugs.” By identifying and closing systemic loopholes before traffickers can exploit them, the project demonstrates that prevention is more effective than reactive enforcement.
Since transnational crime knows no borders, insecure European ports represent risks not only for Europe but also for global markets—including Asia and Thailand. Learning from POSEIDON’s lessons could help other countries develop logistics systems that are secure, transparent, and resistant to criminal infiltration.
References
• Consultancy.eu. (2025). Drug-related corruption and crime plague European seaports.
• OCCRP. (2025). Crime Gangs Exploit EU Ports to Smuggle Record Drug Loads.
