1998 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report

Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs
United States Department of State
February 26, 1999

BELGIUM

I. Summary

Belgium is not a significant producer of narcotics or precursor chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics. Narcotics traffickers continue to exploit Belgium's large port facilities, transportation infrastructure, and central location in Western Europe for transshipment of illicit drugs. Belgium ratified the 1988 UN Drug Convention in October 1995 and takes seriously its obligations under that Convention. Despite serious efforts by Belgian law enforcement to combat illegal drug production, trafficking and use, the Government of Belgium has reduced support for multilateral eradication efforts. Belgium has budgeted US$420,000 in its 1999 budget for multilateral funding for anti-narcotics programs.

II. Status of Country

Belgium is not a significant producer of illicit drugs or precursor chemicals. However, Belgian law enforcement agencies have observed a continued increase in drug trafficking through Belgium from Asia and the Middle East via the Former Soviet Republics. The primary avenues for the movement of drugs are via container through the seaports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge, where the trafficking networks seem to be well established. Law enforcement officials have also noted a recent trend to ship ecstasy tablets via overnight express mail services through Brussels airport to destinations in the US. The tablets are usually manufactured at clandestine labs on both sides of the border with The Netherlands. Belgium is cooperating with U.S. law enforcement to disrupt this route for illicit drug trafficking.

Cannabis resin, also called hashish, is the mostly widely distributed and used illicit substance in Belgium. But heroin abuse produces the most important health and social problems, including drug-related crime. Cocaine abuse, formerly a problem only among wealthy Belgians, is becoming increasingly widespread. Belgian police have also reported an upsurge in the use of amphetamines and ecstasy among young people in Belgium.

Belgian efforts to detect and block drug-related money laundering have intensified. New legislation expanded the scope of enterprises covered under money laundering legislation to include casinos, notaries and real estate agents. During the twelve-month period ending June 30, 1998, 543 cases of alleged money laundering with a value of $1.1 billion were referred to prosecutors. About 64 percent of money laundering cases in Belgium are linked to illegal drug traffic.

Belgium implemented chemical control legislation in directives by the EU in 1994. Based on this legislation, Belgium requires stringent reporting requirements for the import and export of precursor chemicals.

III. Country Actions Against Drugs in 1998

Policy Initiatives. In April, the Ministry of Justice issued a change in its prosecution policy for illegal drugs whereby the lowest prosecution priority is assigned to cases involving users of "soft drugs", including marijuana and hashish. The government explained the change as a more clement approach to the problems facing addicts and their families. The Ministry of Justice also recommended that incarceration penalties for simple possession of cannabis be reduced as a means of controlling an increasing prison population.

In May, the government adopted a plan to reorganize the police forces. At the federal level, the Gendarmerie and the Judicial Police will be integrated into a federal police force in charge of major criminal investigations, including significant national and international narcotics investigations. At the local level, the Gendarmerie and the Municipal Police will be merged. The reorganization, which is still ongoing, includes the creation of an anti-corruption service for the federal police.

The Belgian Ministry of Justice maintains drug liaison offices in eleven foreign cities with territorial competence for thirty-one countries. The drug liaison offices in Bogota, the Hague, Istanbul, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Vienna, Warsaw, Washington, and Wiesbaden are staffed by either judicial police or Gendarmerie (national police) officers. However, the Belgian liaison office in Washington has been vacant for several months and no replacement has been named. The Ministry intends to open offices in Rabat in 1999 and is discussing the possibility of opening an office in Bangkok. Belgium ratified the 1988 UN Drug Convention in October 1995 and the Europol Convention in June 1998.

Accomplishments. Responding to new trends in money laundering, Parliament adopted legislation that endorses a broader definition of money laundering to cover other professions and activities, including notaries, accountants, bailiffs, real estate agents, casinos and cash transporters. Under the new legislation, casinos include any establishments that conduct casino-like gambling activities. The legislation imposes an obligation on these entities to report suspicious transactions.

Belgium entered into bilateral police cooperation agreements with Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. These agreements are comprehensive in nature. They include the framework/guidelines for cooperation on narcotics matters.

Parliament is currently debating an organized crime law that defines a "criminal organization" and criminalizes membership in such an organization. The legislation endorses the use of undercover operations and wiretaps by law enforcement agents.

Law Enforcement Efforts. Belgian law enforcement authorities pro-actively and vigorously investigate individuals and organizations involved in illegal narcotics trafficking into and through Belgium. The law enforcement efforts of the Gendarmerie currently focus on major trafficking organizations; particularly those involved in trafficking of heroin. Belgium fully met the objectives of the 1988 UN Drug Convention.

Belgian authorities use modern techniques that are in general effective. Interdiction efforts by Belgian Customs Authorities at Antwerp and Zeebrugge are exemplary. In major operations in 1997, Belgian law enforcement authorities seized more than 285,540 ecstasy tablets, approximately 1008 kilograms of cocaine, 1900 kilograms of cannabis, 108 kilograms of amphetamines, and 2,200 kilograms of cannabis resin. They arrested more than 76 persons in connection with these seizures.

Corruption. Corruption is not judged to be a problem within the narcotics units of the law enforcement agencies. Legal measures exist to combat and punish corruption. The police reform plan adopted this year establishes an anti-corruption service for the federal police.

Agreements and Treaties. Belgium ratified the Europol Convention in June and the Ministry of Interior announced the establishment of a national police cell for exchange of information with Europol.

The United States and Belgium have long had an extradition treaty. An updated extradition treaty entered into force in 1997. A supplementary treaty on extradition, signed in 1987, was ratified by the U.S. Congress ion November 1996. Belgium has not yet ratified this supplementary treaty. A mutual legal assistance treaty signed in 1988 and ratified by the United States in 1989 was ratified by Belgium in March 1998. It is anticipated that the treaty should enter into force by spring 1999.

The Government of Belgium is currently negotiating police cooperation agreements with Morocco and Russia. It expects these agreements to enter into force in 1999. Belgium has signed and ratified the 1988 UN Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances. Belgium is also a party to the 1961 Single Convention and its 1972 Protocol.

Belgium is a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and held the FATF presidency during the ninth session (19978-98). As a Schengen member state, Belgium participates in the Schengen Working Group on Drugs. Belgium is a member of the Council of Europe's (COE) Pompidou Group and in March, sponsored a COE Training Conference for evaluators in the COE's new anti- money laundering project. Belgium has fully implemented the EU Directive on Money Laundering and participates in the contact committee established by the Directive. Belgian authorities cooperate bilaterally on money laundering issues with Austria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Finland, France (TRACFIN), Hungary, Italy (Guardia di Finanza), The Netherlands (MOT), Norway (OKOKRIM), Spain, Sweden, U.K. (NCIS), and the United States (FinCEN).

Belgium is a member of several international anti-drug organizations, including the heads of European Narcotics Law Enforcement Agencies (HONLEA), the European Committee to Combat Drugs (CELAD), and the Dublin Group. Belgium is a member of the major donors group of the United Nations Drug Control Program (UNDCP). In the past, most Belgian aid was channeled through the UNDCP to crop substitution and alternative development programs. Belgium has allocated US$420,000 for the UNDCP's anti-narcotic efforts.

Cultivation/Production. There is no significant cultivation or production of illicit drugs in Belgium. Police have noted a recent increase in production of amphetamines and ecstasy primarily in illegal labs on the Belgium/Netherlands border. These labs are linked to criminal organizations that distribute the drugs primarily within Europe.

Drug Flow/Transit. Belgium remains an important transit point for drug traffickers because of its port facilities (Antwerp is Europe's busiest port), airports, excellent road connections to neighboring countries, and central geographic location. Most illicit drugs pass through Belgium via the ports of Antwerp and Zeebrugge; across the border from the Netherlands; or through Brussels Zvantem airport. Smuggling routes change constantly, but Belgian authorities believe an increasing number of heroin shipments arrive from Central Asia via Turkey. These shipments take one of two trafficking routes; in northern Europe through Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Austria or in southern Europe through Italy. Belgian police have reported an increase in cocaine and cannabis trafficking through Belgian ports by Latin American criminal organizations. These shipments usually consist of bulk loads of cocaine or cannabis destined primarily for Eastern Europe. Cannabis sold in Belgium originates in Morocco, Latin America and Southeast Asia and arrives via land, air and sea routes.

Domestic Programs. Belgium has an active anti-drug educational program that targets the country's youth. The Regional Governments (Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels) now administer such programs. The programs include education campaigns, drug hotlines, HIV and hepatitis prevention programs, detoxification programs, and a pilot program for "drug-free" prison sections.

IV. U.S. Policy Initiatives and Programs

Bilateral Cooperation. Cooperation between the United States and Belgium continues to be excellent and is expanding. DEA and FBI enjoy close and effective cooperation with the judicial police and Gendarmerie. U.S. law enforcement agencies represented in Brussels enjoy excellent working relationships with the Belgian National Magistrates' and Prosecutors' offices. During 1998, representatives from the USG and from the Belgian Ministry of Justice completed the first of a planned series of bilateral consultations to improve judicial cooperation. These meetings are intended to improve cooperation and streamline procedures in judicial assistance matters including letters rogatory and extradition cases. Along with the United States, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands and France, Belgium has agreed to participate in a Caribbean Maritime counter- drug initiative in 1999. Belgium participates in an informal forum for cooperation on money laundering issues known as the Egmont Group, which held its inaugural meeting in June 1995 at the Egmont Palace in Brussels under the sponsorship of the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and Belgium's Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (CTIF/CFI). Belgium chairs the Egmont legal working group, which drafted a model Memorandum of Understanding on international cooperation on money laundering issues.

The Road Ahead. The United States looks forward to continued close cooperation with Belgium in combating illicit drug trafficking and drug- related crime, and to continued Belgian participation in multilateral counternarcotics for a such as the Dublin Group.