The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) does not initially expect a decrease in drug-related crime in the event of cannabis legalization, which the federal government is striving for.

In view of the planned legal sale in specialist shops and pharmacies, the Vice President of the BKA, Martina Link, said: "Only a competitive offer could lead to the black market being reduced." However, she does not assume that the market will disappear, said Link at the presentation of the situation report on drug crime on Thursday in Wiesbaden.

Cannabis is a comparatively cheap drug, with which organized crime earns hundreds of millions of euros annually due to the amount.

According to police crime statistics, around 60 percent of trafficking offenses were related to drugs last year.

Timo Steppat

Correspondent for Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland based in Wiesbaden.

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The number of drug offenses fell last year for the first time in ten years by 1.3 percent.

However, the number of trafficking offenses increased by 2.9 percent to 55,941 cases.

A total of 280,840 suspects were registered in connection with drug-related offenses in 2021, 47,784 were accused of trafficking as suspects.

If eleven tons of cocaine were seized in 2020, it was "at least 23 tons" in 2021, according to the BKA.

The police also seized large quantities of methamphetamine and therefore assume that consumption will increase.

Significantly more people died in 2021 as a result of drug use.

The number rose by 15.5 percent to 1,826 drug-related deaths.

More than 80 percent of them are men.

According to the situation report by the BKA, the most deaths from drugs per 100,000 inhabitants are in Hamburg (4.1) and North Rhine-Westphalia (3.9), the lowest number with 0.5 in Saxony.

The federal government's drug commissioner, Burkhard Blienert (SPD), called the figures at the BKA press conference alarming.

"The illegal trade in cannabis will remain a criminal offense"

Blienert referred to the strategy of focusing more on health and consumer protection;

for example through more prevention and substitution offers for drug users.

The aim is "to create a stable addiction support system and thus weaken organized crime," said Blienert.

It is "no less than a paradigm shift" in drug policy that is designed for the long term.

The key issues paper recently presented by the Federal Ministry of Health on the legal sale of cannabis envisages allowing the purchase and possession of 20 to 30 grams of cannabis and legalizing the cultivation of the plants to a limited extent.

BKA Vice-President Link vividly described the dramatic situation in the Netherlands and Belgium, where organized crime poses an increasing threat.

Link cited as examples the planned kidnapping of the Minister of Justice in Belgium or the murder of Dutch journalist Peter de Vries, who was fatally injured, allegedly because of his role in an organized crime trial.

"All of this seems far away to people in Germany - but it's all happening in our neighborhood," said Link.

Even if there have been no such prominent cases in this country so far, one has to assume that organized crime would proceed with similar brutality.

The money from the illegal drug trade is invested in legal businesses such as arcades or restaurants,

which will earn even more money and increase influence.

The BKA announced that it intends to reorganize itself in the area of ​​serious and organized crime.

New jobs will be created for this.

In order to be successful, one needs the same rights in the digital space as in real life, Link demanded with regard to data retention.

In several cases, successful investigations were achieved by decrypting encrypted perpetrator communication.

On the sidelines of the presentation of the situation report, the BKA presented a large quantity of seized cocaine and heroin.

In both cases, the police were able to identify and arrest the suspected backers of drug smuggling.

Although the cocaine case was 2.3 tons that came from Peru to the port of Hamburg, Christian Hoppe, who is responsible for drug crime in the Organized Crime Department, called the 700 kilos of heroin seized the more significant investigative success.

It is the largest quantity of the drug seized to date.

"With heroin, we're dealing with a larger dark field," said Hoppe.

He cited conservative estimates that there were 130 to 160,000 users of the drug in Germany, which, according to calculations, resulted in an annual consumption of 20 to 25 tons of heroin.