10.7 tonnes of cannabis seized at Antwerp in first half of 2026
Belgian customs seized 10.7 tonnes of cannabis at the Port of Antwerp in the first half of 2026 across 13 marijuana interceptions. Most of the marijuana came from Canada, which customs chief Kristian Vanderwaeren linked to overproduction under Canada's domestic legal market, while seized hashish came mainly from Morocco.
The cannabis seizures were made in the port of Antwerp.[1]Cannabis seizures
there increased in the first half of the year.[1]Customs made 13 marijuana
interceptions, compared with six in the same period of 2025.[1]The total
volume seized was 10.7 tonnes, compared with 12.3 tonnes a year earlier, with
smaller individual loads.[1]The figures come from a mid-year review published
by SPF Finances, the federal finance service overseeing Belgian customs.[1]
Most of the intercepted marijuana came from Canada, with which cooperation has
been strengthened, while the seized hashish came mainly from Morocco.[1]Customs administrator-general Kristian Vanderwaeren attributed the rise in
Canadian seizures to conditions in the local market there.[1]He said Canada
has legalised cannabis nationwide for domestic production and consumption, but
export is banned, and overproduction leaves sellers able to profit by exporting
it to the European Union.[1]
In the same half-year review, customs reported 5.4 tonnes of cocaine seized at
Antwerp, down from 16.7 tonnes a year earlier, a separate drug total excluded
from the cannabis figures.[1]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Cannabis
10.7 t
Agency type
Customs
Cannabis
Hashish
Setting
Port or sea
Case stage
Under investigation
Route
Canada → Belgium
Sources
RTL Infortl.beFRLa majorité du cannabis saisi dans le port d’Anvers vient d’un pays qui risque de vous surprendre : « Il y a une surproduction »
Open questions the AI reported
The article gives no separate dates for the 13 interceptions; 30 June 2026 is used as the end of the reported January-June period, published 14 July 2026.
It is unclear whether the 10.7-tonne total covers marijuana alone or all cannabis including hashish, so it is recorded here as the cannabis total.
No arrests, charges or court outcomes for these interceptions were reported.
The cocaine total from the same review is mentioned only as context and excluded from cannabis figures.
Only one accessible source was opened after web search returned no second account of this half-year review.
A prisoner at Marneffe returned from temporary leave with 7 grams of cannabis he had obtained while away. Prison guards quickly found it during a search, and the prisoner said he needed it to sleep.
Police in the Bruxelles-Ouest zone seized 13.53 kg of cannabis and 8,670 euros in cash from an apartment in Jette after stopping a scooter rider on avenue de l'Exposition, and detained two suspects handed to the Brussels prosecutor's office.
Operation ATLAS NEXUS, led by Belgium's Federal Police and co-coordinated by Frontex, EMPACT and CARICOM IMPACS across 34 countries, ended with more than 490 arrests and the seizure of 118.6 tonnes of cannabis among 156.9 tonnes of drugs. National operations included a record 104.96 tonnes of cannabis in Paraguay and 3.2 tonnes in Costa Rica.
Brussels federal judicial police seized more than 500 kg of cannabis hidden in two Canada-origin pallets declared as clothing, arresting eight people on 27 August 2026. Four were remanded under arrest warrant, with vehicles, a jammer and phones also seized as the inquiry into the import network continues.
