Port Authority coordinates the fight against drug crime in the Ghent section of North Sea Port

As a multimodal port, we have excellent connections by road, rail, and waterway to destinations across Europe. A port area stretching 60 kilometres, interwoven with residential communities, has an open and accessible character. But that comes with a downside. As controls in the world’s largest ports become ever stricter, criminal networks are increasingly attempting to smuggle illegal drugs, primarily cocaine, through alternative ports such as ours. This smuggling also brings other forms of criminality in its wake, including attempted bribery of port staff and violence.

The number of high-risk vessels in our port is rising. Drug smuggling is often associated with large shipping containers that can be scanned. Our port, however, is a bulk port where cargo such as grain, timber, and liquid substances are loaded and unloaded. This makes inspection extremely complex. Drugs are frequently hidden deep beneath the cargo itself or hidden in the technical spaces. Between 2021 and 2025, only 25% of identified high-risk vessels could be effectively inspected. Because the situation in the Ghent port area is so unique, the playbook from a container port simply cannot be applied here.

Scientifically grounded and tailored to our needs

Tackling this threat requires collaboration between multiple stakeholders and a tailor-made approach, and that is precisely what Plan Argos delivers. Using funds from the drugs fund established by the Belgian National Drug Commissioner, the Governor of East Flanders, Carina Van Cauter, commissioned research from Ghent University. Professor of Criminology Charlotte Colman worked alongside partners in the port area to develop an integrated strategy, grounded in scientific insights and built around four pillars:

Strengthening situational awareness

Creating technical and physical barriers within the port

Reinforcing collaboration between public and private actors

Increasing resilience and fostering a culture of reporting

Within these pillars, 65 concrete actions have been developed to combat organised drug crime. A clear governance model has also been established to ensure effective follow-up of the plan across all public and private stakeholders involved.

The Harbour Master as the central eye

For Plan Argos to succeed in a complex port environment, effective coordination is essential. Plan Argos is not a copy of approaches used elsewhere, it is a strategy tailored to the specific situation in Ghent. What makes this plan unique is that coordination is firmly anchored within the port authority itself. The Harbour Master occupies a central position, connecting all parties involved – from local and federal police, customs, the Governor, and the Public Prosecution Service, to private terminal operators. The goal? To ensure that information no longer stays siloed, and that everyone works together to keep the port safe.

Plan Argos builds on the cooperation around port security that began in 2018 at the initiative of the East Flanders Federal Judicial Police. This led to the establishment of the port reporting point Havik, funded by the Governor, which was later rebranded nationally as Portwatch. Since its launch in 2024, 75 reports have been received, leading to the opening of a significant drugs investigation.

Plan Argos is already being rolled out. Work is under way on deploying a bespoke camera network across the Ghent port area, and the Port Pass has recently been introduced: a uniform digital access control system using biometric identification across the entire port, making paper-based identity checks a thing of the past. The solution was developed by Peripass, an innovative Ghent-based scale-up.

In Greek mythology, Argos was a giant with a hundred eyes, never all asleep at once. That is precisely what Plan Argos aims to achieve for North Sea Port. Working together towards a safer port.