Cocaine seizures at the Belgian port of Antwerp, the top gateway into Europe for mainly South American drug cartels, hit a fresh record high last year, authorities say. Some 116 tonnes of cocaine were seized in Antwerp alone, Belgian Finance Minister Vincent van Peteghem tells reporters, a five-percent rise on 2022 which itself was a record figure. The Netherlands, neighbouring Belgium, and Spain are the top three European nations for illegal cocaine imports, most of it from Panama, Colombia and Ecuador. IMAGES AND SOUNDBITES