Belgium: The Silent Front in America’s War On Drugs
- Jett James Pruitt
- 6 days ago
- 6 min read
With Trump Reasserting U.S. Primacy, America Can No Longer Ignore How Belgian Politics Will Affect Europe's Flow of Illegal Substances to the USA
Article Written by Jett James Pruitt
Following the U.S. military's capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores in Caracas on January 3 — a move known more formally as Operation Absolute Resolve — members of the international media have been focused on Trump's efforts to combat transnational drug trafficking throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. However, there is another geographic flow of illegal substances to the United States that has somehow stayed off the radar until now.
America's Latest War On Drugs
Prior to his capture, Maduro was charged by the Department of Justice for facilitating narco-terrorism and cocaine importation into the United States. Aside from ousting Maduro, Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s remarks on January 4 regarding Cuba being “in a lot of trouble,” coupled with his previous statements deriding the Ortega-Murillo regime in Nicaragua, suggest Washington is considering further military interventions against left-wing regimes throughout the Western Hemisphere.
While the Trump administration is undertaking a controversial effort to revive the Monroe Doctrine and reassert U.S. primacy throughout the Americas, Washington simultaneously faces an under-discussed global security crisis occurring in Europe that directly influences counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere.
Belgium’s Drug Problem
On September 10, Belgium Prime Minister Bart De Wever welcomed U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem to Antwerp, located in the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders and home to one of Europe’s most vital shipping ports. Contrary to appearances, this was not a picturesque stop on a convivial tour of Europe. Instead, Secretary Noem was there to address how Antwerp’s strategic location is being exploited by South American cartels as a major drug trafficking hub for Europe — and what to do about it.
The European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) reports the Port of Antwerp has received more illicit drugs from South America than any other facility in Europe within the last decade, with Belgian authorities confiscating 462 tons of cocaine from the city in 2023 alone.
While the amount of cocaine seized in Antwerp steadily decreased in 2024, reports indicate that traffickers have already adapted to recently-introduced security measures and pivoted to importing larger quantities of ketamine across Northern Belgium.
Against this backdrop, De Wever praised the Trump administration for acknowledging Brussels’ plea for assistance in curbing drug trafficking, stating “[Secretary Noem] asked to visit us, not the other way around. I see this as a sign of appreciation for the years of global lobby work that I have been doing…I now hope to make progress, for example, in forcing the ports in South America and the shipping companies to take more action. We need the Americans in order to do this.”
De Wever concluded his speech by praising Washington for intensifying security measures to combat drug trafficking throughout the Caribbean and South America, stating “This is very good news for us because the drug criminals know no borders.”
Bart De Wever and the Rise of Flemish Separatism
Ironically, while De Wever’s efforts to strengthen bilateral cooperation with the U.S. in dismantling drug cartels appears straightforward prima facie, there is an element to this specific geopolitical issue that may undermine Belgium’s ability to manage the international drug trafficking crisis: De Wever’s ultimate goal is to divide Belgium into two states.
As the most prominent member of the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), De Wever is an ardent Flemish nationalist who ultimately seeks the creation of an independent Flemish state. While he moderated his position in June 2024 to declare that a confederal Belgium would be sufficient to Flanders’ interests, De Wever nonetheless seeks to grant the region greater autonomy from both the capital region of Brussels and French-speaking Wallonia.
While the N-VA has historically achieved electoral success by winning the largest share of seats in the Belgian parliament over the previous four consecutive national elections, 2025 is the first year the party has been sworn into power due to other political parties traditionally forming a cordon sanitaire against it.
Meanwhile, the N-VA’s electoral success in both 2019 and 2024 coincided with a surge in support for the more radical Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) party, which advocates for outright Flemish secession. Tom Van Grieken, chairman of Vlaams Belang, recently criticized the N-VA for moderating its stance on Flemish independence, telling the press “Last year, more than two million Flemish people voted for a Flemish-national party, both N-VA and Vlaams Belang. Only Vlaams Belang turned out to be worth its one million votes because never before has so little been achieved communally as with N-VA. The N-VA has not changed Belgium, but Belgium has changed the N-VA.”
Van Grieken also personally attacked De Wever, stating the prime minister “radically lied and cheated the Flemish people and is preying on the Flemish middle class.”
The Political Structure of Belgium
For context, Belgium operates as a federal state in which power is shared between three linguistic communities (Dutch-speaking Flanders, French-speaking Wallonia, and nine German-speaking municipalities), three regions (Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels), and the national government. One unique feature of Belgium’s political system is that there is no hierarchy in the federal system, meaning each tier of government has equal weight in the formulation and enforcement of laws. Moreover, political parties are divided based on language, thereby segregating both constituents and lawmakers from the national policymaking process.
Both Vlaams Belang and the N-VA base their calls for independence on the premise that the current political structure of Belgium unfairly benefits Wallonia at the economic expense of Flemish taxpayers. In fact, Wallonia is a disproportionate recipient of tax revenue provided by Flanders to the federal budget, especially since the former is less economically developed and has a higher unemployment rate.
De Wever once remarked that interregional monetary transfers from Flanders to Wallonia is “like giving drugs to a junkie.”
This shared grievance is also compounded by the fact that Belgium’s fragmented political system makes it extremely difficult for the country’s various political parties to form coalition governments. For example, the country had no government for 652 days between December 2018 and October 2020. More recently, De Wever’s ministry took more than seven months to obtain power, and only did so after intense negotiations among five political parties between June 2024 and January 2025.
Overall, both the N-VA and Vlaams Belangcite this political gridlock as a reflection of the supposed incompatibility between Flanders and Wallonia.
Why the United States Should Pay Close Attention to Belgian Politics
In relation to American security interests, the U.S. should continue to monitor the ongoing importation of cocaine and ketamine into Europe, and ensure ongoing efforts to breakup Belgium do not indirectly result in drug trafficking cartels expanding into America. Specifically, a Flemish secession would most likely undercut Belgian law enforcement’s capacity to confiscate illegal substances in key cities such as Antwerp, Brussels, and Liége.
In the long-term, the loss of substantial tax revenue from Flanders could further lead to a deterioration in social services in Wallonia, thereby fueling more organized crime and gang violence across the region. Even if Flanders remains a part of Belgium, the potential debasement of Belgian federal power may encourage drug trafficking cartels to further concentrate operations in destitute neighborhoods throughout the country.
While the United States cannot determine the outcome of Flemish independence or how Belgium manages its internal governance, it is imperative Washington remains the leading international partner in dismantling drug trafficking cartels across North America, South America, the Caribbean, and Europe. For this reason, the U.S. must stay a close ally of Belgium, no matter how it transforms politically in the near future.
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Jett James Pruitt is a Native American, Pulitzer Prize-nominated author of the bestselling book THROUGH THE EYES OF A YOUNG AMERICAN. He is the founder and editor-in-chief of TheGenZPost.com and a political strategist specializing in Generation Z voter trends. He is currently a B.A. International Politics student at The University of London Institute in Paris. His next book, THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE: What America's Political Parties Must Do To Win Over Generation Z, will be released in major bookstores worldwide Summer 2026.
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