Advanced Aircraft Analysis 3.5 Crack Cocaine
Jeana Rodia
Explore the most recent data on the drug situation in Europe provided by the EU Member States. These datasets underpin the analysis presented in the agency's work. Most data may be viewed interactively on screen and downloaded in Excel format.
We have developed a systemic approach that brings together the human networks, processes and scientific tools necessary for collecting, analysing and reporting on the many aspects of the European drugs phenomenon.
Much of our knowledge about cocaine trafficking routes results from law enforcement activity and intelligence. Information on types and quantities of drugs seized and information on the origin and destination of shipments give indications of the main routes and modes of transport. However, such information is affected by factors such as law enforcement strategies, resources and priorities, as well as temporary changes to routes and practices in response to interdiction efforts or new opportunities. Hence, caution is needed in interpreting these data.
The 1 436 tonnes of cocaine seized worldwide in 2019 was the highest ever to be reported. Quantities of cocaine seized globally increased by more than 50 % between 2015 and 2019, and cocaine was the second-most seized drug globally after cannabis in 2019 (UNODC, 2021b). As in previous years, the vast majority of the global total was seized in the Americas, followed by western and central Europe. Although small in comparison with the Americas and Europe, quantities seized in emerging cocaine markets in Africa and Asia also reached record highs in 2019 (UNODC, 2021a) (see Figure Global quantity of cocaine seized).
The intensification and diversification of cocaine trafficking activities targeting the EU have continued since the last EU Drug Markets Report (EMCDDA and Europol, 2019). Record levels of cocaine production have been matched by record quantities seized, especially from containers handled in the numerous ports along the transatlantic cocaine routes.
There have traditionally been two main areas through which maritime and air shipments of cocaine transit en route to Europe: the Caribbean, and the West African mainland and neighbouring islands of Cape Verde, Madeira and the Canaries. While these are likely to remain significant transit areas, there are indications that North Africa continues to grow in importance and that transhipment through the Western Balkans, while remaining more limited in scope, may also have increased.
From the Caribbean, cocaine is typically shipped on pleasure craft via the Azores, or by air, either on direct flights or via a variety of transit points. In 2019 cocaine seizures in the Caribbean region amounted to 14 tonnes, or about 1 % of the global total, but it is difficult to ascertain what proportion of this total was destined for Europe (UNODC, 2021a).
North Africa is strategically located at a crossroads between Europe, West Africa and the Middle East. Although considerably less cocaine was seized in North Africa (1.8 tonnes) in 2019 than in West Africa (UNODC, 2021a), cocaine smuggling through North Africa, often taking advantage of pre-existing cannabis routes between Morocco and Europe, was identified as an issue many years ago (UNODC, 2007). However, developments in the last four or five years suggest that the region, particularly its coasts on the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, is a growing transit and storage hub for cocaine both arriving by sea directly from South America and coming via West Africa by land for onward transport to Europe or elsewhere, for instance the Middle East (EMCDDA and Europol, 2019; GI TOC, 2022).
The main cocaine hub of North Africa is probably Morocco. The country has traditionally seized the largest quantities of cocaine in the region, which continued in 2019 with seizures totalling 1.5 tonnes, more than 80 % of the reported North African total (UNODC, 2021a). There are indications that the 2021 Moroccan total could be even higher. For instance, in October 2021, more than 1.3 tonnes of cocaine was reported seized in the Tanger-Med port in northern Morocco. The drugs were concealed in a container on a ship that had departed from Brazil and was bound for Antwerp, Belgium, and Portbury, a middle-sized port in Bristol, United Kingdom (Kundu, 2021).
Data available for a few key countries indicate that even larger quantities of cocaine were seized in the EU in 2021. For instance, data on cocaine seizures in Belgium indicate that almost 92 tonnes of cocaine was seized in 2021, almost all in the port of Antwerp. If seizures made elsewhere of shipments that were destined for Antwerp are taken into account, then close to 194 tonnes of cocaine was seized in connection with Antwerp in 2021 (Belgian Federal Police, personal communication). Similarly, the Netherlands (73 tonnes), Spain (more than 49 tonnes) and France (more than 19 tonnes) seized new record quantities of cocaine in 2021 (Douane, 2022; Openbaar Ministerie, 2022; CITCO, communication to the EMCDDA). The preliminary 2021 data available from a few countries indicates that more than 240 tonnes of cocaine were seized in the EU in 2021, exceeding the previous record European total (214.6 tonnes) in 2020.
Cocaine traffickers flexibly use a wide range of innovative trafficking methods, which evolve over time in response to enforcement efforts and other factors. Although cocaine also enters the EU by air, the main route used to smuggle the drug into Europe is still the maritime route from South America to western Europe, especially taking advantage of the licit containerised trade. Maritime transport allows the smuggling of large quantities, and the nature of international commercial maritime traffic means that a vast number of routes can be and are used. In addition, smaller, private sailing boats or even semi-submersible vessels are capable of bringing in large quantities of cocaine in single shipments, entering Europe at many points (see Box First two semi-submersible drug-smuggling vessels captured in Europe).
Semi-submersibles are custom-built drug-smuggling vessels designed for camouflage at sea, with most of their hull submerged under water, making detection more difficult. Most of these vessels seized over the past 10 years appear to have been built in remote areas of the Amazon region, for instance in Colombia. They have been used in the Americas for trafficking tonnes of cocaine at a time, particularly in the Pacific Ocean from Colombia and Ecuador towards Central America and Mexico.
Until recently no such vessel had been captured in Europe, although they were identified as a potential threat in the previous edition of the EU Drug Markets Report (EMCDDA and Europol, 2019). Since then, however, two law enforcement operations in Spain in 2019 and 2021 have shown not only that semi-submersibles can be used to smuggle cocaine from South America to Europe, but also that they can be built in Europe. In the first case in November 2019, a semi-submersible was captured after experiencing problems that forced its three crew members (one Spanish and two Ecuadorian nationals) to abandon and attempt to scuttle the vessel off the Galician coast. The dangerous one-month journey started on the Amazon river, entering the Atlantic Ocean in Brazil and eventually approaching the European mainland. The vessel contained 3 tonnes of cocaine hydrochloride, which were seized along with the vessel itself (CITCO, communication to the EMCDDA; Ortega et al., 2019).
The second case was in February 2021, when a European-made semi-submersible was found in a warehouse in Mlaga, Spain, in a multinational law enforcement operation. During the investigation, 3 tonnes of cocaine, 700 kilograms of cannabis resin and 6 tonnes of precursor chemicals were also seized. The boat was under construction when it was found; it was 9 metres long and estimated to have capacity for carrying up to 2 tonnes of drugs. Such a vessel could have been used to smuggle cannabis resin from North Africa to Europe or even cocaine from mother ships waiting in the Atlantic Ocean (Europol, 2021b; Guy, 2021).
Major European container ports have recorded many seizures of large cocaine shipments in recent years. In addition to targeting major ports, organised criminal networks are now increasingly shipping larger amounts of cocaine from South America to smaller ports in the EU or neighbouring countries, where security measures may be easier to circumvent.
Corruption of maritime and aviation port employees and security officials throughout Europe is, in most cases, a key condition for the successful use of these facilities for cocaine importation by criminal networks.
An analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on EU drug markets concluded that cocaine trafficking via maritime routes had probably continued at levels comparable to or possibly even higher than those of 2019 (EMCDDA and Europol, 2020).
Most of the cocaine available in Europe continues to be smuggled into the largest container ports of the EU located in Belgium (Antwerp), the Netherlands (Rotterdam) and Spain (Valencia and Algeciras). In addition to Hamburg (Germany), ports in France (Le Havre, Dunkerque, Marseille), Romania (Constanta), and Italy (Gioia Tauro), for instance, have also become significant cocaine entry points. The German authorities have attributed the recent increase in seizures in the port of Hamburg to the activities of Balkan and Albanian-speaking organised crime networks (BKA, 2021).
The use of these ports shows how criminal networks continue to exploit established commercial maritime routes between Latin America and Europe to smuggle cocaine into the EU. Taking advantage of the large volume of containerised trade in goods between the two regions, criminal networks are able to conceal large quantities of cocaine in individual shipments. As a result, the main European container ports have recorded increasing numbers of large-volume cocaine seizures in recent years. While these main container ports continue to be targeted, it is likely that law enforcement activities at these facilities have pushed some criminal networks to find alternative smuggling routes, resulting in a recent intensification of cocaine shipments to smaller ports in the EU or in neighbouring countries where security measures may be viewed as easier to evade.
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