The Guardian
The mayor of Oslo has warned that drug smugglers are increasingly targeting the Norwegian capital as a gateway to Europe as authorities tighten controls on major ports such as Antwerp.
Oslo’s mayor, Anne Lindboe, said drugs worth up to £570m have been smuggled through Norway’s largest port, which receives 50-70 ships and 243,000 containers every week.
“It seems that the port of Oslo is becoming a preferred port in Europe for criminal, hardened gangs,” Lindboe told the broadcaster NRK. Oslo port, she added, was “slightly too poorly guarded”.
Earlier this month, customs officials in Antwerp, the European capital of drug smuggling, said cocaine seizures in the Belgian port were down by half as criminal gangs switched routes to evade detection after an increase in policing.
In Oslo, however, there are concerns that security is not tight enough. The Norwegian customs union says it has only one mobile scanner at Oslo, which is shared with two other ports. When it is not available, customs officers have to check containers with handheld scanners, which they say are not as effective.
Calling for action, the union leader Karin Tanderø Schaug said the situation in terms of cocaine and organised crime was “critical” and that it was essential to “reinforce the customs in Norway”.
“This fight [across Europe] is so important. We cannot afford to underestimate the importance of control at the borders,” she added.
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