According to the European Drugs Agency, drugs are further processed more and more often in Europe.
14:31•Updated 15:33
Austria, Denmark and Bulgaria are geographically located in different parts of Europe.
However, the countries have one thing in common, high opioid-related death rates. According to a report published in June by the European Drugs Agency EMCDDAmore than 90 percent of the deaths involved opioids.
Semi-synthetic opioids include heroin and synthetic fentanyl and methadone.
A major opioid problem like the US and drug addiction caused by painkillers has not yet been seen on the east side of the Atlantic.
– Europe is alert and prepared. Legislation and prescription control is stricter. However, there are signs of an increase in the use of fentanyl, for example, because it is available more than before, says a researcher and market analyst of the European Drugs Agency Rita Jorge Yelle in a phone interview.
Drug deaths are often also related to impure substances. According to Rita Jorge, there are many local poisoning chains. This can partly explain the statistical spikes in Denmark, Bulgaria and Austria.
In Europe, the opioid crisis has been avoided due to, among other things, more effective substance abuse treatment.
– Users get help faster and rehabilitation is available, Rita Jorge, who studies synthetic drugs, assesses the pan-European situation. Of course, there are big differences in substance abuse treatment between countries.
Drug kitchens are becoming more common in Europe
Drug deaths are also explained by a new trend. From the point of view of the drug industry, it is practical that production and the market are close. If the Asian heroin routes can be cut off, European users will switch to synthetic drugs, which are also manufactured here.
– There are signs of professional production of ecstasy and methamphetamine in Europe. The equipment and expertise are there. A drug laboratory was destroyed in Latvia last year.
Small drug kitchens have also been found in the Czech Republic.
– Europe is learning to cook. For example, criminals in the Netherlands have become familiar with the production of methamphetamine with the help of Mexican drug gangs.
Poland is of interest to drug lords
A particularly attractive country for the drug industry is Poland. In a country with around 40 million inhabitants, there is enough internal market and connections and cargo go quickly to neighboring countries. Along with the Balkans, Poland has also been an important route for Afghan heroin.
In the drug kitchens of Eastern Europe, ecstasy and amphetamine are produced, among other things. .
– It is known that there is large-scale production of synthetic drugs in Poland, as well as in the Netherlands, explains Rita Jorge.
Among other things, the production of synthetic cathinones that affect the central nervous system is on the rise. According to the European Drug Agency, their seizures were three times higher in 2022 compared to amphetamine and methamphetamine seizures.
Cocaine use and seizures on the rise
Market analyst Rita Jorge emphasizes that the whole picture of the drug situation is multifactorial and rapidly changing. New, addictive substances continue to enter the market alongside the traditional ones.
Cocaine’s popularity is indicated by the quantities found in the seizures. According to the European Drug Agency, 110 tons of cocaine were seized in Antwerp, Europe’s second largest port, in 2022. Last year’s figure was 116 tons.
A record 9.5 tons of cocaine were found in a shipment of bananas from Ecuador last year. The batch worth 310 million euros was on its way to Belgium, says, among others, the British broadcasting company BBC.
Prices fall when production becomes industrialized
A lot of labor is needed to harvest coca and poppy from the fields. Although the pay of the collectors is poor, it increases the price of the drug, as does the freight. We have to wait for the next harvest.
When cocaine and heroin are further refined in European laboratories, the chain of crime is shorter.
– Users want pure substances. It is easier to make them near the market. The rule of thumb is: the closer the manufacturing, the cheaper the consumer price, says analyst Rita Jorge from the European Drug Agency.
Correction 14.8. 3:33 p.m.: 116 tons of cocaine, not 116 million tons, were seized in Antwerp last year.