U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem met Wednesday with Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever in the port of Antwerp to press for stepped-up cooperation against maritime drug smuggling and other transnational criminal activity.
Noem said during a joint appearance that U.S. agencies are working with Belgian counterparts to increase the sharing of data and intelligence to disrupt trafficking networks. "Our threats will be stopped through collaboration, through sharing of information and intelligence," she said, adding that ports are "a prime target for foreign terrorist organizations, or cartels, or transnational criminal organizations that smuggle drugs and smuggle traffic through them. And here in Antwerp, you know that all too well."
De Wever, a former mayor of Antwerp who has traveled to South America to confront rising trafficking routes into northern Europe, said European nations must step up cooperation among themselves as well as with the United States. "We must do this because criminals know no borders at all," he said. The prime minister introduced Noem to a drug-detecting dog named Emma and demonstrated new trucks the port uses to scan containers for illicit goods. The two then took helicopters for an aerial tour of the port’s facilities.
Their visit comes as Europe records rising flows of cocaine and other illicit drugs through maritime trade hubs. The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction's 2025 annual report found that cocaine seizures across Europe in 2023 reached a record seventh consecutive year, totaling 419 metric tons. Belgium accounted for 123 metric tons, followed by Spain with 118 metric tons and the Netherlands with 59 metric tons. Authorities said the three countries with major ports accounted for 72% of the total seized.
The EU agency also said its early-warning system has identified about 1,000 new synthetic substances since its inception 27 years ago, and warned that increased illicit flows risk fueling violent crime and higher addiction rates. Europe remains a leading producer and exporter of MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, the report said.
Noem has made global travel to reinforce cooperative law enforcement agreements a priority since taking charge of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Her visit to Antwerp followed meetings in London with ministers from the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing partnership — the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand — where officials discussed border security, countering unauthorized migration, child sexual abuse and the spread of opioids.
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood hosted the Five Eyes talks at the Honourable Artillery Company headquarters in London. Noem said ministers found common ground on sharing information about criminal gangs, using technology to disrupt illicit networks and speeding extradition arrangements, though approaches to migration differ across the alliance.
Belgium has pushed to bolster enforcement after increasingly large cocaine consignments were intercepted at Belgian ports, particularly Antwerp, which has for years been a major entry point for illicit consignments moving into inland European markets. Belgian authorities have invested in canine units, mobile scanning trucks and other inspection technologies to detect concealed shipments.
Both Noem and De Wever emphasized practical cooperation rather than public confrontations. They framed the meeting as part of a broader effort to "crush the business model of organized crime" by disrupting supply chains, sharing actionable intelligence and deploying detection technology at critical transit nodes.
Officials did not announce new bilateral agreements or specific operational timelines. The discussions in Antwerp are expected to feed into continuing dialogues among European Union partners, regional law enforcement and U.S. agencies aimed at coordinating seizures, investigations and prosecutions tied to maritime smuggling networks.