Record amounts of Canadian cannabis seized as smuggling to Europe soars
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smuggling → seize → Europe
Smugglers reaping huge profits abroad thanks to legalization, say officials
Hidden in a shipping container full of a family's household belongings.
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officials → reap → belongings
All neatly vacuum packed and labelled, and then shipped across the ocean.
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All → pack → ocean
Nearly a decade after it was legalized at home, Canadian-grown marijuana is being smuggled through Europe's largest ports, leading to record seizures and a call for Canadian officials to intervene.
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officials → legalize → seizures
According to Belgian customs officials, a record-breaking 21 tonnes of Canadian cannabis were seized in the port of Antwerp in 2025 alone, exceeding illegal exports from every other country in the world.
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tonnes → accord → world
That includes Morocco, until recently Europe's biggest supplier of illicit weed.
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That → include → weed
Officials told CBC News that smugglers are taking full advantage of Canada's decision in 2018 to legalize cannabis use to illegally ship it across the world and tap into the highly profitable European market.
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smugglers → tell → market
Criminals stand to make many more times in returns in Europe than what the same marijuana fetches at home.
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marijuana → stand → home
"According to my information, it has to do with the policy of the Canadian government," Kristian Vanderwaeren, director general of the Belgian Customs and Excise, told CBC News in an interview in Brussels.
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Vanderwaeren → accord → Brussels
"And 320 million Europeans who have money to buy this … it's an immense market."
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it → have → this
Europol, the EU's law enforcement agency, says the average wholesale price of a kilo of Canadian marijuana in a place like the Netherlands (where marijuana use is decriminalized, but technically illegal, as it is all over Europe) is about 4,100 Euros ($6,429 Cdn), and as much as 6,000 Euros (about $9,408 Cdn) in the U.K.
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it → say → U.K.
Street prices would be even higher.
Kristian Vanderwaeren, director general of the Belgian Customs and Excise, says criminal organizations either earn a lot of money through smuggling or they don’t do it.
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they → say → it
In Canada, the wholesale price for a kilogram of dried cannabis is an average of $1,000 to $1,500 Cdn, according to the RCMP.
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price → dry → RCMP
Vanderwaeren says he first noted the surge in 2024, and then seizures at the port spiked in 2025, prompting a "red alert."
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seizures → say → alert
That’s when he contacted the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) for help in stemming the tide.
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he → ’ → tide
The port of Rotterdam, the largest in Europe, is also experiencing a surge in Canadian cannabis seizures this year.
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port → experience → seizures
CBSA confirmed intelligence indicates "a sustained increase in illegal export attempts since 2022, particularly to Europe" including Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France and others.
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intelligence → confirm → Belgium
In an emailed response to CBC’s questions, a spokesperson for the agency said such attempts are done "in cargo shipments, postal shipments, and smuggling by air passengers."
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attempts → email → passengers
In 2025 alone, CBSA says its agents seized about 34 tonnes of cannabis products intended for export at maritime border points.
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agents → say → points
Still, Canada's policy is having a palpable impact in Europe, says Belgium's first-ever drug commissioner.
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commissioner → have → Europe
"This cannabis is sold in our Belgian streets but it's also going to the rest of Europe," said Ine Van Wymersch.
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Wymersch → sell → Europe
"This is a supply-driven market," she added.
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she → drive → ?
"We see that criminal groups are taking advantage of a gray zone, that it is really hard for the Canadian government to mitigate and to regulate this whole new policy.
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government → see → policy
"
Legalization policies "sound very good in theory, but we have to take into account human behaviour," she said.
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she → sound → behaviour
Belgian drug commissioner Ine Van Wymersch says information needs to be exchanged on both sides of the ocean to stop the smuggling.
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information → say → smuggling
Van Wymersch, once Belgium's youngest public prosecutor, was appointed drug commissioner in 2023 to aid in the fight against rising drug crime.
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Wymersch → appoint → crime
Brussels alone has seen a significant surge — 74 shootings so far this year, according to the Brussels-Capital region’s minister-president.
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Brussels → see → president
"The shootings we see and the explosions are overall mainly related to cocaine but also to cannabis," said Van Wymersch.
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Wymersch → see → cannabis
The violence has prompted a debate on whether Belgium may be devolving into a "narco state."
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Belgium → prompt → state
Van Wymersch rejects that label, but in one indication of the severity of the situation, she is always protected by a security team.
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she → reject → team
"We can't be naive," she said.
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she → say → ?
"These criminal gangs, they don't have any values.”
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they → have → values
To do her job, “there are some measures that need to be taken to protect me and my office."
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that → do → me
Although drugs are also smuggled through Belgium's airports, most come via the port of Antwerp, officially called Antwerp-Bruges.
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most → smuggle → Antwerp
It has long been considered a top cocaine gateway to Europe.
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It → consider → Europe
Smugglers are now using the same maritime lines, well-established criminal networks and logistics through Antwerp and Rotterdam to get Canadian marijuana to Europe, says Europol.
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Europol → use → Europe
A drug sniffing dog searches a container during a customs control for drugs at the Belgian port of Antwerp-Bruges, on May 20, 2022.
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dog → sniff → May
Europol gave CBC News exclusive insights on the movement of Canadian cannabis, including how criminal networks react when they encounter obstacles: "[They] will adjust, for example, by routing containers from Canada via the U.S.
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They → give → U.S.
It is possible that cannabis from Canada destined for Europe could transit via the Caribbean.
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cannabis → destine → Caribbean
"
"Smuggling is like surfing," said Vanderwaeren, the chief of customs.
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Vanderwaeren → say → customs
…and 36 more, not listed.
The Aporia
