Antwerp’s reporting center for drug production sites wants local authorities as partners

The Antwerp provincial reporting center for drug production sites such as labs and plantations (drugsplantenontdekt.be) is becoming increasingly known and now also wants to involve local authorities. “It takes a network to defeat a network,” Antwerp prosecutor Franky De Keyzer quotes a well-known American war slogan.

After 2.5 years, the reporting point, an initiative of the Public Prosecution Service, police services and the governor of the province of Antwerp, has already received more than a thousand reports. Most reports came, unsurprisingly, from the Antwerp police zone, followed by some Kempen police zones. In 35 cases, a report led to an effective discovery of a lab, plantation or dumping of drug waste.

“When we communicate about such a find, we always mention that it happened thanks to the reporting center,” says spokesperson Kristof Aerts of the Antwerp public prosecutor’s office. “We notice that more and more visitors are finding the website.” More successes lead to more awareness, which in turn can lead to more reports and therefore more success, in other words.

The initiators gathered several dozen representatives of local authorities to get them interested in the project. “Safety concerns everyone,” says De Keyzer. “We don’t just have to look at the police and medical services. We also need the citizen. Look at the success of the neighborhood information networks: the citizen should not play sheriff themselves, but should report suspicious matters.”

Local authorities are specifically asked to promote the hotline, but also to be alert to suspicious situations within their own operations, such as when granting permits. The hotline previously also focused on target groups such as farmers and landlords, who must be careful to whom they make a house or shed available. For example, not wanting to meet physically, wanting to pay in cash or a high energy bill can be alarm bells.

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