Dutch lead in Antwerp drug arrests as 2025 total tops last year
More Dutch nationals have been arrested this year in Antwerp’s port for attempting to extract drugs from shipping containers than any other nationality, Belgian police said. In just the first four months of 2025, authorities detained 131 suspected drug extractors—already surpassing the total of 128 for all of 2024, NOS reports.
According to the Shipping Police, 58 of those arrested so far this year are from the Netherlands. Another 47 suspects held Belgian nationality. The rest primarily came from France, Albania, and Morocco.
Police say the profile of the suspects is changing, with younger individuals increasingly involved. Since the start of the year, 31 minors have been arrested. In March, eight Dutch nationals were caught attempting to retrieve drugs from containers. Among them was a 13-year-old, the youngest suspect detained so far.
The presence of these so-called "drugsuithalers"—people who physically extract smuggled drugs from shipping containers—has become a major security concern for port authorities in Antwerp. In response to the ongoing threat, the Port Security Corps (Havenbeveiligingskorps) was established last year. This special unit was created to combat drug-related crime in the port, and dozens of officers have since been hired specifically for that task.
Antwerp is not alone in facing this issue. The port of Rotterdam has long struggled with the same type of drug extraction activity. However, since the beginning of this year, Dutch police have reported a significant decline in the number of arrests there. Authorities suspect that parts of the drug trade have shifted to other countries, including Belgium.
