Spy technology, increased violence and digitalisation - how covid-19 has affected Europe's drug market

The report, which is based on data and expert opinions from EU Member States, the UK and a further 14 countries, shows that while there have been changes in the illegal drug market, drug crime has managed to adapt to the current situation.

Large-scale smuggling between countries continues, despite increased border controls, and the lucrative cocaine trade between South America and Europe seems largely unaffected.

In the EU's largest drug market, the illegal cannabis market, there are reports of rising prices and a lack of products - however, there is no decrease in demand. 

The unstable situation of the spring seems to have led to more competition and increased violence in the middle chain of the drug chain. Sweden is highlighted as an example of a country where deadly conflicts within organized crime have increased.

But it is mainly at the bottom of the drug pyramid that changes have occurred, with longers being forced to adapt to a reality where people's ability to move is limited.

The digitalisation of the drug trade has escalated and Darknet, social media and encrypted communication apps have played an important role in the spring - especially for trading with smaller quantities of cannabis.

Even street vendors have been forced to rethink their efforts to successfully combine drug sales with social distance requirements. 

Among other things, through the spy-inspired technology “dead drops”, where the buyer pays for the goods digitally, and the seller then sends instructions on where the drugs are hidden and can be collected.

Langare has also dressed up in different ways to look like belonging to a professional group that is allowed to move in the community during a "lockdown".

EMCDDA and Europol now warn that criminals can exploit the social and economic consequences of the pandemic.

An economic recession, with rising unemployment, may cause more people, especially young people, to run into drug problems or be recruited into drug crime.

There is also a risk that cash-tight criminal groups in a recession may advance their positions in society, by buying up legitimate companies and persuading desperate businessmen to act money launderers.