Brussels Airport has rapidly become a major hub for international drug trafficking, with corrupt airport staff playing a key role in smuggling operations. Belgian authorities report a sharp rise in both drug seizures and investigations involving employees who help criminal networks retrieve suitcases filled with cocaine and other narcotics directly from arriving flights.
According to prosecutors, some baggage handlers and ground staff deliberately seek jobs at the airport to offer their services to drug gangs. After proving themselves through “test runs,” they can earn up to €1,000 per kilo of cocaine removed from the airport. In one case, two baggage handlers reportedly split €200,000 for a single extraction. For criminal organisations, the payout is minor compared to the street value of the drugs, which can reach millions of euros.
Smuggling methods are increasingly sophisticated. Drugs are hidden in passenger luggage, air cargo, aircraft panels, toilets, or even mixed into goods such as flowers. Suitcases without passengers are placed on flights from high-risk routes such as the Dominican Republic, Mexico or Gambia, then retrieved at Brussels Airport by insiders who divert them from the normal baggage process.
Belgian customs seized nine tonnes of drugs at the airport in 2025, more than double the previous year. Cannabis imports from Thailand have surged following its partial legalisation, while Belgium remains a major exporter of synthetic drugs such as MDMA and ketamine.
Authorities say most airport staff are honest, but only a handful of accomplices are needed to sustain a profitable trafficking route. Investigators link the networks operating at Brussels Airport to the same criminal groups active in the Port of Antwerp. While lower-level couriers are frequently arrested and jailed, identifying higher-ranking organisers remains difficult despite breakthroughs from encrypted messaging platforms such as Sky ECC.
Prosecutors and customs officials warn that tackling “airport crime” and following the money trail will be essential to disrupting the growing role of Brussels Airport as a European drug gateway.