Hamburg
Ministerial meeting on organized drug crime
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and her colleagues want to discuss how the security of European seaports can be strengthened in the context of drug crime. photo
© Britta Pedersen/dpa
Federal Interior Minister Faeser and five of her European counterparts are meeting in Germany’s largest port city. The aim is better networking in the fight against drug crime.
European states want to better coordinate their actions against international drug crime. In order to coordinate such strategies, the interior ministers of six European countries come together Hamburg together.
According to the Interior Ministry’s announcement, Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) and her colleagues from Belgium, France, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands will discuss in particular how the security of European seaports can be strengthened in the context of international drug crime.
The central theme is also the cooperation between state and private actors for port security, it said. The conference in Hamburg is the third meeting of the so-called coalition of European states against serious and organized crime. The program includes a meeting with police forces and a trip to the Tollerort container terminal.
Representatives of the European Union as well as representatives of South American states and other international bodies also take part in the meeting. Mayor Peter Tschentscher and Interior Senator Andy Grote (SPD) have announced their presence in Hamburg.
2023: 33.9 tons of cocaine seized
The amount of cocaine seized in the port of Hamburg alone has tripled in the last five years. While in 2019 there were 9.5 tons of the drug discovered by police and customs in the port, the number rose to 33.9 tons last year, as can be seen from the Senate response to a written small question from the CDU parliamentary group. The amount of cocaine that is not even discovered is likely to be significantly larger. The Port of Hamburg is the third largest seaport in Europe after Rotterdam (Netherlands) and Antwerp (Belgium).
In order to counter the dangers posed by internationally organized drug crime at all levels, security authorities and the port industry joined forces last October to form a “Safe Harbor Alliance”. At the same time, the police, customs and Federal Criminal Police Office are pursuing preventive approaches in addition to repressive and operational-tactical measures in the EU-funded project “Infiltration of North Sea ports by organized crime structures” (INOK).
Just last week, Hamburg’s Mayor Tschentscher, Interior Senator Grote and the port industry presented an awareness campaign for port workers, which is intended to illustrate the danger of being involved in criminal activities through drug cartels’ recruitment attempts. There is also a portal through which tips can be given anonymously.