The European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), through its Brussels office, is conducting an investigation into suspected customs fraud, corruption and document falsification at the port of Antwerp. The proceedings, known as Investigation Steamboat, are ongoing and fall within the EPPO’s mandate to protect the European Union’s financial interests, in particular customs duties, which constitute an own resource of the EU budget.
According to official information released by the EPPO, the investigation concerns an alleged illicit scheme that is believed to have caused an estimated loss of more than €11.3 million in import duties. The facts under examination reportedly involve a customs official and two executives of companies active in customs operations within the port of Antwerp, suspected of having collaborated in a scheme to evade controls and manipulate customs procedures through corruption and falsified documents.
On 20 January 2026, under the supervision of an investigating judge in Antwerp, seven searches were carried out in Belgium. During the operation, officers arrested three individuals and seized several bank accounts and cash. The action involved 48 officials from the Belgian General Administration of Customs and Excise and various units of the Federal Police, including the CDBC, the FCCU and the canine unit, with the support of the Dutch Fiscal Information and Investigation Service, the tax and investigative authority of the Netherlands.
The investigation originated in 2024 from a complaint filed with the EPPO by the Belgian General Administration of Customs and Excise. Investigators reportedly identified alterations to customs procedures, but the authorities have so far provided no details on the types of goods involved, the operational methods of the fraud or any potential links to other proceedings underway at European level. The EPPO reiterated that the investigation is still at the preliminary stage.
