In addition to being a key consuming market, Europe is increasingly becoming a hub for cocaine manufacture and transshipment to other parts of the world, according to EU agencies, which also warned about the growing methamphetamine sector.
According to a joint EU report by law enforcement agency Europol and drugs agency EMCDDA, cocaine is the most consumed narcotic in Europe, with millions of users and sales of roughly 10.5 billion euros ($11.1 billion) in 2020.
The European market is expanding, owing to increased output in South America as well as expanded processing capacities in Europe. New varieties of smokable cocaine products are being created, according to the research, which warns of increased health dangers.
According to the research, “more production is now taking place inside Europe, indicating changes in the region’s position in the international cocaine trade.”
According to statistics collected by EU authorities, Belgium looks to be at the heart of the sector in Europe. It is the EU country that seized the most cocaine in 2020, the most recent year for which statistics is available, with a total tonnage of 70 tonnes confiscated, largely at the port of Antwerp, compared to 49 tonnes in the Netherlands, Europe’s second largest seizure nation.
According to the report, Belgium, along with the Netherlands and Spain, is a leader in the processing of coca paste, citing seizures of substantial quantities of chemical precursors for cocaine manufacturing and information on processing facilities as evidence.
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