Belgium, France Report Record Drug Seizures as UN Congress Tackles Border Security

Global leaders and frontline officials at the 15th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice laid out an escalating crisis: 69 drug-related shootings in Brussels this year alone, a historic 90-ton cocaine haul by France, and criminal networks threatening the children of port workers. The Sept. 26 thematic meeting on protecting borders drew concrete legislative commitments — from non-conviction asset seizures to AI-powered enforcement — alongside raw accounts of what interdiction looks like on the docks.

• Belgium reports 69 drug-related shootings in Brussels in 2025, announces new asset confiscation laws and a dedicated ports prosecutor for Antwerp
• France seized a record 90 tons of cocaine in 2025 and adopted Italian-style specialized organized crime prosecutors
• UNODC's 190+ border control units across 94 countries seized 168 tons of cocaine last year
• UAE directs AI deployment across 50% of public-sector operations, including drug enforcement
• World Shipping Council warns that criminal networks send threatening photos of seafarers' children to coerce cooperation
• Ghana's six-agency joint port control unit demonstrates frontline interagency drug interdiction

Why it matters: Two of Europe's largest economies are overhauling their legal frameworks in response to drug-trafficking violence that has spread from ports into residential neighborhoods — a shift that could set precedents across the continent and beyond.