Europe becoming cocaine hub with soaring production, trafficking: EU agencies

ANKARA

Europe is becoming an increasingly central hub for production and distribution of narcotics around the world, particularly cocaine, EU agencies warned in a report released on Friday.

The methamphetamine market in Europe is also a “growing threat” as production, along with supply to and from other manufacturing hubs, has considerably expanded, according to a joint report by law enforcement agency Europol and drugs agency EMCDDA.

Cocaine is the most consumed drug in the EU after cannabis, with millions of users and a market value estimated to be around €10.5 billion ($11.1 billion) in 2020, the report said.

“More production is also now taking place inside Europe, indicating changes in the region’s role in the international cocaine trade,” read the report, which also identified the continent as “a key trans-shipment point for drugs originating elsewhere.”

The EU agencies said higher production in South America, as well as Europe’s increased importance as “a destination and transit zone for cocaine bound for the Middle East and Asia,” are exacerbating Europe’s cocaine problem.

Over 214 tons of cocaine were seized in European countries in 2020, with Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain accounting for some 75% of the record quantity.

The same three countries are responsible for the rising cocaine processing in Europe, according to data collected by the EU agencies.

As for methamphetamine, the agencies found that availability of the synthetic stimulant drug has soared and its usage has spread to several countries across Europe.

“Methamphetamine facilities detected in Belgium and the Netherlands have increased in size, sophistication and output since 2019,” read the report.

It said European synthetic drug producers have been “working with Mexican criminal groups to develop production processes and exploit existing infrastructure in Europe.”

Between 2010 and 2020, the number of methamphetamine seizures in the EU more than doubled, jumping from 3,000 to 6,200, while the quantities seized increased by 477% to 2.2 tons in 2020.

“Europe is also a destination and transit zone for this drug from other production hubs (e.g. Iran, Nigeria, Mexico) bound for Asia and Oceania. The emerging methamphetamine industry in Afghanistan poses a threat to the EU,” the report warned.

“For both cocaine and methamphetamine, there is evidence that Latin American and European criminal groups are partnering in production, trafficking and distribution,” it added.

According to Catherine De Bolle, Europol’s executive director, illegal drugs “dominate serious and organized crime in the EU, and nearly 40% of the criminal networks operating at the international level reported to Europol are active in drug trafficking.”

Alexis Goosdeel, director of the EMCDDA, said Europe is seeing “record levels of drug availability, rising violence and corruption, and greater health problems,” stressing the need for “greater coordinated action, not only in Europe, but also with our international partners in producer and transit countries.”