Drugs: among the first markets, Europe is a hub for cocaine
In Europe, cocaine passes through major ports, including that of Antwerp, Belgium.
© Getty pictures
Text by: RFI Follow
1 min
Europe is one of the largest cocaine markets in the world.
It is the most widely used drug after cannabis, consumption favored by the development of cocaine production in Europe.
Several European Union agencies warn that the continent has now become a hub for the export of this drug to other parts of the world.
Advertisement
Read more
In the foreground, there is Belgium.
It is the country that seized the largest quantities of cocaine in 2020. Seventy tons according to Europol and the European Union's anti-drugs agency, which presented a report during a press conference in Brussels.
After Belgium, come the Netherlands and Spain.
In these three countries, large quantities of chemicals used to produce cocaine were seized, in clandestine laboratories or at the borders.
Transformation on its soil
If Europe still imports drugs from South America, the processing now takes place on its soil.
It is also increasingly re-exported to other regions of the world, such as the Middle East or Asia.
The other market, but on the rise although smaller: methamphetamines.
Between 2010 and 2020, the quantities seized increased by 477% according to the report.
EU agencies are also warning about the rise in violence and corruption, particularly in major ports such as Antwerp, Belgium, the first gateway for cocaine.
More and more workers are threatened or offered large sums of money to support the traffic.
►Also read: Belgium: 27 tons of cocaine seized thanks to the investigation into encrypted communications
Newsletter
Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox
I subscribe
Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application
google-play-badge_EN
Belgium
Spain
Netherlands
Dope