Canadian marijuana is increasingly turning up in European ports, with authorities warning that criminal networks are exploiting the country’s legal marijuana industry to supply lucrative overseas markets.
Belgian officials say they confiscated about 21 tons of cannabis originating from Canada at the Antwerp Port during 2025, a record figure that surpassed seizures linked to other major producing countries. Officials say the scale of the trade has raised concerns across Europe and prompted calls for closer cooperation with Canadian authorities.
Belgian Customs chief Kristian Vanderwaeren said the increase became noticeable in 2024 before intensifying the following year. He subsequently sought assistance from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which says intelligence shows a sustained rise in attempted illegal exports since 2022, toward European destinations.
The agency reported seizing roughly 34 tons of marijuana products at Canadian marine border points in 2025. Smugglers have also attempted to move drugs through mail and passenger air travel.
The attraction is largely financial. Europol estimates that Canadian marijuana can command around $4,568 per kilogram at wholesale in the Netherlands and as much as $6,684 in Britain. In Canada, the comparable wholesale value is generally between $715 and $1,073 per kilogram, according to the RCMP.
European authorities say organized crime groups are exploiting established shipping routes and logistics networks. Rotterdam and Antwerp, two of Europe’s busiest ports, have become important entry points. Investigators say traffickers can also alter routes when necessary, potentially sending cargo through the Caribbean or the U.S.
Customs officers have uncovered increasingly elaborate concealment methods. In one Antwerp shipment, marijuana was hidden inside hollow jukeboxes among household possessions belonging to a family supposedly relocating to France. In another case, cannabis packages were concealed behind a false layer of wooden fuel briquettes.
Only a small proportion of containers entering Antwerp are physically examined, with authorities relying on scanners, detection dogs, AI, and officers’ experience to identify suspicious shipments.
Belgium’s national drug commissioner Ine Van Wymersch said cannabis linked to the trade is reaching Belgian streets as well as markets elsewhere in Europe. She warned that the resulting profits can contribute to wider criminal activity and violence.
A Berlin court recently sentenced 10 men over a scheme that moved 1.1 tons of Canadian marijuana into Germany using containers declared as timber.
Canadian, Belgian, Dutch, and French customs authorities have since agreed to strengthen cooperation. Belgian officials stress that the issue is not about blaming Canada but about addressing unintended consequences of legalization.
Europol expects the trade to continue as Canadian marijuana combines relatively low production costs with strong demand across Europe. Officials on both sides say tackling the problem will require coordinated action across borders, with enforcement efforts at both international and local levels.
Marijuana businesses like SNDL Inc. (NASDAQ: SNDL) will be hoping that this illicit trade in cannabis products sourced from legal markets is curtailed so that the reputation of legal markets isn’t tarnished by smugglers looking to exploit loopholes at ports of entry in Europe.
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