Dutch men face 40-month sentences in Antwerp for alleged cocaine retrieval attempt
Three Dutch men, aged 19, 22, and 28, appeared in court this week in Antwerpen after allegedly attempting to retrieve cocaine from a container terminal in the city's port, NOS reports. The suspects were arrested in early February under suspicious circumstances, but no drugs were found. Despite the absence of narcotics, Belgian prosecutors demanded severe penalties, citing a zero-tolerance approach to so-called uithalers—individuals who extract drugs from shipping containers.
The 22-year-old from Alblasserdam, whose hand was bandaged following a prison fight, was arrested alongside a 19-year-old from Rotterdam. Both were discovered soaking wet among containers on a known drug-sensitive quay. Police believe the pair climbed onto the quay via the water. Officers found them with a flashlight, bolt cutters, and a socket wrench—tools typically used to open containers. A short distance away, by a fence, lay an empty gym bag. According to the Antwerp prosecutor, these findings strongly suggested an attempt to retrieve cocaine from a container.
A third suspect, a 28-year-old man from Amsterdam, was stopped walking on a public road nearby. Police say he appeared nervous and gave an implausible explanation, claiming he was there for a secret date and that the phone he carried was not his.
"An unbelievable story," said the prosecutor, who grouped him with the two other suspects. The Amsterdam man, who entered the courtroom in handcuffs, denied knowing the others and said, “I understand you’re tired of arresting Dutch people, but I didn’t come here to do anything wrong.” He challenged the investigation’s basis, arguing, “You’re immediately seen as a uithaler, even though no drugs were found.”
Belgian law does not require suspects to be caught with drugs in hand to be convicted of uithalen. Merely being in a restricted terminal area under suspicious circumstances is enough. Police suspect the trio was attempting to pick up a shipment of cocaine that had already been intercepted in Panama and never reached Antwerp. That night, seven uithalers in total were arrested at the port.
Defense attorneys harshly criticized the investigation. Koen de Backer, who represented the 22-year-old, called it “embarrassing,” stating that evidence was poorly handled and may have been mixed up between different suspects. “It was a busy night for the port police,” added the attorney representing the Amsterdam suspect. “Apparently, if you’re walking in the port, they assume you’re involved in a crime.”
De Backer said the case reflects a troubling legal shift in Belgium. “There’s a reversed burden of proof here. If you're arrested in the port, it's up to you to prove you weren’t involved in drug activity.” However, the suspects declined to clarify why they were in the port area. The Amsterdam man would not disclose who he was meeting, and the other two invoked their right to remain silent.
None of the suspects have a prior criminal record. Laurence Sweldens, the lawyer representing the 19-year-old, stressed that her client comes from a stable background. “He goes to school. His father works for a municipality. If he was asked to do something, he wasn’t aware of the consequences.” She described the teen’s experience in prison as brutal. “He had to sleep on the floor, contracted scabies, and spent his nineteenth birthday in a cell.” He was released on bail last week pending sentencing. The other two remain in custody.
Prosecutors are demanding 40-month prison sentences, 2,500 euros fines, and 10-year port bans for all three suspects. “Our approach is strict because we’ve been dealing with uithalers for a long time,” said Kristof Aerts, spokesperson for the Belgian Public Prosecution Service. “We respond repressively in the hope it will stop.”
