Cocaine in record quantities is being seized in Europe, while manufacture of the drug is also taking place within the European Union, officials in charge of combating and monitoring drug usage in the EU have warned.
More than 214 tons of cocaine were intercepted in Europe in 2020, a 6% rise over the previous year, and the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) believes the figure might reach 300 tons by 2022.
Cocaine is the second most consumed drug in the EU after cannabis, with a market retail value projected at 10.5 billion euros in 2020 and around 3.5 million European residents reporting having used it in the previous year.
It has never been more widely available in Europe, with extraordinarily high purity and inexpensive pricing.
While the majority of cocaine is still produced in Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia, EU experts are concerned about the processing that is increasingly taking place within the 27-nation bloc, notably in Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands.
45 illegal manufacturing labs were uncovered in the EU between 2018 and 2020.
EMCDDA scientific expert Laurent Laniel said at a press conference in Brussels that cocaine powder is frequently transported from South America to Europe in carrier materials like as charcoal and plastics, then extracted in local laboratories.
Experts in the EU also examined the expanding methamphetamine market, which has grown in recent years after being initially focused in the Czech Republic and Slovakia. According to estimates from nine EU nations, 215 methamphetamine labs were closed in the area by 2020.
According to Europol, the EU’s law enforcement organization, European makers of synthetic narcotics are collaborating with Mexican gangs to enhance output.