voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. the coke is everywhere. europe is battling a cocaine crisis, and one port in belgium is on the front line. everybody knows in europe that this is the port to do something. antwerp is now the main gateway to the continent. customs are intercepting record amounts. they found this, also cocaine. but international gangs are going to new depths to get their drugs through, even steering submarines packed

with cocaine across the atlantic to spain. we discover how cocaine users are finding it easier than ever to feed their habit. authorities across the continent face an almighty struggle. we'll never win this battle. go, go, go, go, go, go, go. we're at the port of antwerp, in belgium. this place is said to be the number one choice for cocaine smugglers trying to get their drugs into europe. antwerp port has grown massively over the decades. there are now 160 kilometres of quayside where ships can be unloaded. millions of containers arrive each year from around

the world, and it's a smuggler�*s dream. paul meyer was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2007 for trafficking drugs. antwerp was his number one route into europe. when i think back now on that time and i say, "no, it was completely wrong what i did." 100%. now my punishment is done, and i show you that the port is very open. he can understand why this port has become the gateway to europe for cocaine. i tried also in hamburg, and we tried also in marseille. everything is much easier in antwerp, and everybody who is doing this kind of business, they know antwerp is easy and that's the place to do something. and i know people, they try also other places, but they always come back to antwerp. he takes us for a ride around the sprawling port to show us how open it is. we drive around the container terminalfor two hours

without being stopped or questioned. the port is open, like what we did now. you go inside, and all the information that you need to start something, you can see yourself. you have the truck drivers, you have the people who are working there. you have the name of the boat. and paying dockers for information to help his drugs get through was a vital part of the operation. there's so much money involved and so much profit. so there's enough money to pay people and, be honest, we are human. don't say and don't think that nobody is taking money. cocaine that's getting through the port of antwerp is now flooding the streets of the rest of europe. and we're off to meet one user who says it's easier than ever to get hold of the drug. this man, who we're calling

matt, has been using cocaine for the past eight years. he says it's made his addiction worse. matt has already decided he will buy cocaine today and says he wants to show us just how easy and fast it is.

at the promised time, matt's delivery arrives. so, you got it? and these deliveries are designed not to attract the attention of the police. and when you're buying cocaine, you're giving your money to gangs involved in other crime, maybe prostitution, luring young women in. do you think about that?

but cocaine is so lucrative for so many gangs, there is violence within that. and a lot of innocent people can be caught up with it. and this is something you're fuelling through buying this, you and lots of other people. back at antwerp port, customs officers are seizing more cocaine than ever. this was a route from ecuador. they saw that the pile against doors was ok, but then the pile at the back of the truck was not homogeneous.

so, darker edges and just and lighter in the middle. and then they found this, also cocaine. most of the drugs were destined for the netherlands to then be distributed to the uk as well as other parts of europe. tsunami, avalanche, how you will, it's coming to us and we are trying to stop the most. belgium customs intercepted so much cocaine in 2022, they can't destroy it fast enough. but some estimate only 10% of the cocaine arriving in antwerp is being detected. every way to smuggle cocaine as possible just invented, think of it, and they will do it. every year, it's growing and growing and we are doing more and more controls and

still we seize more cocaine. does it feel like you're fighting an impossible battle? we will never win this battle. we do the best we can, and we will do every year better and better. around 2% of containers are physically checked. much of the goods are food, which will rot if not shifted quickly. more scanners are coming, but not fast enough. antwerp is now the number one port in europe for cocaine seizures, with the dutch city of rotterdam second. another entry point is galicia in spain, where traffickers are increasingly using another strategy. this is the first submarine known to have been used to bring cocaine from south america to europe. it's home—made and it travelled 4,000 miles across the atlantic

0cean. the voyage in 2019 took 27 days and only ended when the three men on board tried to sink the vessel, but they'd been tracked and were arrested. the submarine, which is 20 metres long and made of carbon fibre, set off from brazil and first travelled along the amazon river. the captain they initially recruited took one look at it and said there's no way he'd be involved. he said it was like a suicide mission. head down inside and it's easy to see why. and this is where they lived for nearly a month. it's so cramped and claustrophobic in here. forfood, they had energy bars, cans of sardines. the toilet was a bag in the corner, and that was it. they had nothing else, apart from three tonnes of cocaine in the front worth

more than £100 million. this so—called narco sub is now on display at the spanish police academy, an hour outside the capital, madrid, far from the sea. it's a symbol of a successful operation. but this submarine attempt wasn't a one—off. law enforcement agencies from europe and the americas, including here in colombia, say semi—submersible vessels have been used for more than 20 years and that, after being built in the quiet of thejungle, hundreds have been launched across the ocean. in fact, police suspect that in the middle of the atlantic, around the canary islands and the azores, there is a mass graveyard of cocaine submarines, deliberately sunk after successful voyages. any cargo or secrets they still hold on the bottom of the ocean. and gangs are now said to be developing automated subs

to get their cocaine to europe. no skipper or crew needed. in march, off the coast of galicia in spain again, another submarine was found, although this one was empty. for the national police force, it's making theirjobs even tougher. but on the day we visit, the police are celebrating a big success. not far from where both the narco subs were found, they've just discovered a cocaine factory. they say it was the biggest of its kind everfound in europe. the spanish police have recreated the drugs factory and the assembly line, starting with this — raw coca paste. it's got a really strong vinegar smell.

it would then be cooked up using lots of chemicals. it would then be pressed over here. they'd weigh the products that they have. and take a look at this. this is 150 kilos worth of cocaine, a purity of 95%. what you see here on this table has a street value of around nine million euros. that's about £8 million. if there was one thing you as a senior police officer could have, which would change everything, which would make it so much easier for you, what would that be? just one thing.

for now, it is regular boats that carry the vast majority of the cocaine coming to europe, and it's arriving in ever bigger quantities. raids have been taking place across the country. stashes of drugs seized. millions of euros confiscated. a deluge of coke and cash. and the top—of—the—range cars, spoils of the lifestyle enjoyed by the super rich criminals. many have been arrested, but others not. and stemming the flow coming into europe can feel like an impossible task, like holding back the tide. the united nations says global production of cocaine jumped dramatically over

the past two years. it's up a third after a slowdown due to the covid pandemic. the un says the increase is because there's more raw coca being made, and there have been improvements in converting the plants to the finished drug that then floods the streets. back in belgium, chief inspector charlier and team are preparing for saturday night on patrol in the capital, brussels. looking for cocaine dealers has become a bigger part of their work. the team still try to

swoop in for an arrest. it seems the suspect, only 16, was dealing marijuana. another young male, suspected of selling cocaine, has got away. and children are playing crucial roles for the drugs gangs. that boy, they think, is only 13 years old. they've just been talking to him because they think he's a spotter and he works for some of the gangs here, they reckon, and he gives information to them and also keeps a lookout if the officers are here. as night falls, cocaine continues to be distributed across the city. this neighbourhood, peterbos, one of so many where the drug is an increasingly important commodity being bought and sold out in the open.

speaks french. this is the dealing point for cocaine. yes. for cocaine? this specific area? so, this is cocaine corner? voila. what is this, a new thing? and it's in the entrances and stairwells of the tower blocks where business is done. the menu of drugs for sale scribbled on this wall, as well as the licence plates of suspected undercover police cars that have been seen in the area. that's the plate of our car.

in the port of antwerp, they've been seizing lots more cocaine. have you seen an impact here on the streets?

well, for this police team, their shift is coming to an end now. tomorrow, though, they'll do it all again because the amount of cocaine coming into this country is alarming for lots of people. the amount of cocaine coming into europe. this is a problem that's getting worse. because while europe's cocaine crisis may well be hidden from view in many places with most users undetected, it is fuelling violence which is exploding onto the streets with devastating effect.

this morning at 5:00, some people arrived here and they shot at the door because they think here lived a family — or here lives a family — which is related to a drugs gang. we've met up with the antwerp—based crime reporter patrick lefelon. they shoot on your door with guns, with kalashnikovs, or they throw grenades or heavy fireworks. and then, you get this as a result. they try to get their cocaine out of the port in antwerp, so to sell it in the rest of europe, and they have corrupt contacts in the harbour. they pay them a lot. but when they don't get the result — when the cocaine cargo is missing, for example — they say, "yeah, you have "to pay us back," or

they take some revenge. so, since summer, i think every week we have two, three assaults in the drug scene. that's an incredible amount. and quite often they're getting the wrong address, like here. quite often, it's, yeah — they — the guys who do the assaults are recruited in — mainly in holland. so, theyjust get an address, they put it in their waze or i don't know what. but, for example, we have the same streets in different districts in antwerp. patrick says there is a growing fear in this community about the fallout from this surge in violence. everyone is afraid that one day or another, an innocent people could get hurt, maybe killed by a mistake.

and just a few weeks later, an 11—year—old girl is shot dead in antwerp. an innocent life lost in this growing spiral of violence. for those trying to bring the drugs gangs to justice, it is a huge challenge to secure evidence and witnesses in this world where so much money is being made so quickly. michel claise, belgium's top investigative magistrate, says the cocaine market is now out of control.

the united nations is warning that international drug gangs are working together like never before. and now eyeing up markets in africa and asia, as europe's cocaine crisis deepens and expands.

hello there. i think it's fair to say the weekend started on a very mixed note. now, there were some areas of rain across the uk but other places that stayed entirely dry and sunny. look at this band of rain in southern scotland. underneath that, drumalbin in lanark only got to eight degrees. while it's not that far away, in stirlingshire, basking in the sunshine, tyndrum had a high of 17 celsius, so a massively different feel to the weather on saturday over a relatively short distance. sunday's chart still has low pressure firmly in charge. there will be more rain around. that low moves eastwards and then, early next week, we'll get northerly winds. and look where those winds come from — pretty much the north pole — so, needless to say, the weather will be getting quite a bit cooler over the next few days. now, over the next few hours, we've still got a bit of rain in northern ireland. that's turning lighter and patchier in nature. northern scotland turning wet here with some stronger north—easterly winds developing

and we've got some heavier rain just skirting along the south of england. so, there are some areas of rain, other areas stay dry, but a lot of cloud around. temperatures, 4—10 degrees as we start off sunday. now, we've got that fairly persistent rain that's going to be with us most of the day for northern scotland. it will feel chilly here on account of those gusty northerly winds. heavy rain across southern england extending into east anglia and then into the afternoon, we see showers break out, and i think those showers, particularly across england and wales, will turn heavy with some hail and thunder. temperatures across the board below average for the time of year, and it's set to get colder. those northerly winds really start to arrive through monday and on into tuesday as well. now, we're looking at some rain across england and wales. further north, it's a day of sunshine and showers. there'll be some hail mixed in with some of these showers, a little bit of sleet across the far north of scotland and over the higher scottish mountains, yes, you could even see a little bit of snow, — but you have to go pretty high up for that, above 400 or 500 metres' elevation.

temperatures dropping — highs of 7—11 degrees. feeling chilly, particularly for northern scotland. then monday night, we see a widespread frost develop and it's something that gardeners will certainly want to take note of. this is not a good news situation, really, for those tender plants — you might need to bring them back inside. tuesday, still cold, still a few wintry showers across northern scotland. showers with us for much of the week ahead with temperatures for the most part staying well below average. bye for now.

live from london, this is bbc news. president biden confirms that american embassy staff have been evacuated from sudan and calls on parties to end the violence. an emergency alert is being tested in the uk today. people will hear a loud alarm on their phone at 3pm, bst, this afternoon. hollywood star—backed wrexham fc celebrates a return to the football league for the first time in 15 years. tributes are paid to the australian entertainer barry humphries, best known for his creation dame edna everage, who died this weekend at the age of 89.