Politics Europe becomes cocaine exporter as countries overflow with drug

[HisRoyalHighness]

European countries have become so saturated with cocaine that the region has now become a hub for exporting the drug to markets such as Australia, Turkey and Russia, according to new data.

Record levels of production of the drug in South America and new smuggling routes opening up into the continent means that Europe is now a transit area for the export of cocaine.

The phenomenon is outlined in a new Europol analysis of the drug market, and comes after Spain seized a submarine carrying cocaine from Colombia in a European first this week. New trafficking routes are also being developed through war-torn west African states.

According to the report, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain remain main entry points and distribution hubs for cocaine in the EU. Smuggling operations are becoming more sophisticated and harder to detect.

The European Union’s law enforcement agency’s 2019 Drugs Market Report, shows that the value of the drugs trade in Europe is roughly €30 billion. Cannabis, accounting for 39% of the total market, is the most consumed illicit drug followed by cocaine at 31%. It is estimated that four million European citizens used cocaine this year.

Last week's submarine was carrying three tonnes of cocaine valued at €100 million when it was detained off the north-west coast of Spain. The submarine had travelled from South America and it is believed the cocaine was destined for the British market.

West and North Africa appears to be emerging as a more significant transit point for both air and maritime shipments of cocaine destined for the European and possibly other markets.

The report found that heroin production, mainly in Afghanistan, is also on the rise and consequently there is likely to be a much greater availability of the drug in Europe over the coming years.

The use of heroin and other opioids still accounts for the largest share of drug-related harms. The retail value of the heroin market in 2017 was estimated to be at least €7.4 billion.

Europe becomes cocaine exporter as countries overflow with drug

European countries have become so saturated with cocaine that the region has now become a hub for exporting the drug to markets such as Australia, Turkey and Russia, according to new data.

www.telegraph.co.uk

I'm actually surprised it has become this much of a crisis, I always assumed Europe had way better customs enforcement and x-ray scanners than us here in the states. But I guess it's true that as law enforcement become better with technology, criminals become better with innovation.

Also that narco semi-submersible is just insane, we know they can cross from Colombia all the way to Miami but from South America to Europe? That's a massive leap forward for criminal enterprises. I wonder if we will be reading about narco subs making trips to Australia or even Japan.

Also more info on the Narco Submarine captured off the coast of Spain:

A legend about Colombia's narco subs appears to be becoming a reality

On November 24, Spanish authorities seized a 22-meter submarine off the coast of the northern province of Galicia, carrying around three tons of cocaine. Two crew members were reported to be from Ecuador while a third managed to escape.

Official sources within the investigation told El País that the submarine had come from Colombia but had been built in Guyana and had been "operating for years."

While there have been at least three narco-submarines captured by the US this year, InSight Crime has counted at least 19 more such vessels seized in Colombia, all along its Pacific Coast.

A legend about Colombia's narco subs appears to be becoming a reality

Almost all narco subs intercepted previously have been found in the Pacific Ocean, making a transatlantic venture a new wrinkle for smugglers.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Jake84]

A good chunk of the dope gets seized, but most of it pass through the customs whether we like it or not. As you said, the police is smart but so are criminals especially when it’s potentially many millions €uros market here.

Cocaine is no longer and it’s not new even here the “drug of the wealthy”.

Educating our youth about its danger. Watching movies like Requiem for a dream or Trainspotting would be a good start...

 

[Mordoror]

A good chunk of the dope gets seized, but most of it pass through the customs whether we like it or not. As you said, the police is smart but so are criminals especially when it’s potentially many millions €uros market here.

Cocaine is no longer and it’s not new even here the “drug of the wealthy”.

Educating our youth about its danger. Watching movies like Requiem for a dream or Trainspotting would be a good start...

According to police and customs the ratio of drugs seized is only 10% at best. Unfortunately
There is still room for improvment

 

[primer]

US border with Mexico they says its 1%. For those types like life like roulette those are easy odds.

 

[HisRoyalHighness]

A good chunk of the dope gets seized, but most of it pass through the customs whether we like it or not. As you said, the police is smart but so are criminals especially when it’s potentially many millions €uros market here.

Cocaine is no longer and it’s not new even here the “drug of the wealthy”.

Educating our youth about its danger. Watching movies like Requiem for a dream or Trainspotting would be a good start...

Indeed.

Even in the smallest villages, Cocaine has become the drug of choice for the populi:

Cocaine in Ireland: ‘The average consumer is a farmer or nurse... It’s universal’

However, according to gardaí, doctors and drug treatment workers there is a significant difference between the cocaine situation in 2007 and in 2019. While before the problem was largely confined to cities or large towns, today cocaine is being used in even the smallest village in rural Ireland.

The cliche of cocaine as the drug of choice for the Dublin finance worker or the middle-class dinner party is long out of date. The average consumer “is a farmer or a nurse”, according to one garda. “Actually there isn’t an average consumer. It’s universal. That’s how bad it is.”

A quick look at any regional paper bears this out. “A Letterkenny garda has described the drug problem in the town as ‘rampant’,” reads an article in the Donegal Democrat.

Cocaine in Ireland: ‘The average consumer is a farmer or nurse... It’s universal’

Gardaí and drug workers say cocaine is being used in even the smallest rural village

www.irishtimes.com

 

[Ivan le Fou]

Cocaine is no longer and it’s not new even here the “drug of the wealthy”.

One small step on the road against social inequalities!

 

[HisRoyalHighness]

One small step on the road against social inequalities!

In a manner of speaking, yes.

UK organised crime gangs profit most in Europe from darknet drugs sales – report

Organised crime groups based in the UK generate more money from selling illegal drugs on the dark web than in any other country in Europe, according to the EU’s drugs agency.

Darknet vendors in the UK were estimated to have sold drugs worth more than £24m with a total weight of 2,825kg in 2017-18.

Although they did not generate as much revenue, dark web vendors in Germany were estimated to have traded a higher quantity of drugs, 3,153kg, worth over £16m. The disparity could reflect price variations and the differences in types of drugs offered.

However, the true figures were almost certainly much higher. Including on the darknet, drug users across the EU spend more than £26bn on illicit substances each year.

A number of online marketplaces where drugs are sold have been closed in recent years by international law enforcement agencies, but the dark web markets ecosystem has proved resilient and take-downs did not significantly impact revenues, the 2019 EU drug markets report noted.

The report said the number of online stores run by single vendors had grown in response, and the market was expected to continue to both fragment and migrate to encrypted communication apps such as Discord and Telegram.

The use of postal and parcel services to transport drugs has expanded rapidly in the past two years, posing added dilemmas for law enforcement agencies.

Dr James Nicholls, from Transform Drug Policy Foundation, said the report showed that international law enforcement agencies were finding it “almost impossible” to deal with the expansion and innovation of the illicit drug market.

“Research cited in the report shows that when one darknet market is taken down another takes its place, having no effect on the overall scale of the drug market,” he said.

“Law enforcement are playing ‘whack-a-mole’ and it is not working. We need a different approach. The only way to undermine organised crime, and to reduce the enormous harm that illegal drug markets create, is to legally regulate drug supply.”

UK organised crime gangs profit most in Europe from darknet drugs sales – report

EU drugs agency estimates UK dark web vendors sold illegal drugs worth more than £24m

www.theguardian.com

What the authorities don't understand is that drug dealing nowadays is less shady guy in dark alley and more online delivery service.

 

[Mike1976]

Europe becomes cocaine exporter as countries overflow with drug

European countries have become so saturated with cocaine that the region has now become a hub for exporting the drug to markets such as Australia, Turkey and Russia, according to new data.

www.telegraph.co.uk

I'm actually surprised it has become this much of a crisis, I always assumed Europe had way better customs enforcement and x-ray scanners than us here in the states. But I guess it's true that as law enforcement become better with technology, criminals become better with innovation.

It's a matter of capacity mainly with brilliant *ahum* budget cuts across the entire security and defence spectrum by governments obsessed with complying with EU budgetary rules (especially during the financial crisis) leading to agents being made redundant and investment in new equipment being pushed back repeatedly. The other aspect is corruption and PERSEC. In customs you don't earn all that much so it's easy to be seduced by criminals and if that doesn't work threatening violence will. Sentences for actual violence are a joke never mind mere threats so no one bothers reporting it and it's virtually risk free for criminals.

In the Netherlands LAWs have been fired at the offices of newspapers reporting on drug traffickers and a public prosecutors office. The lawyer of a witness for the prosecution in the case against the largest drug trafficker in the country was murdered recently, the witness' brother was murdered already earlier. The trafficker is believed to be staying in one of the Gulf states and reportedly under the protection of the Iranian secret service as he is suspected of having had several assassinations carried out for them of political opponents in Europe.

Politicians just downplay these threats and continue to do nothing because human rights, privacy, trusting the police forces of narco/terrorist states etc. The main idea especially politicians on the left have to get rid of these drug problems is to legalize pretty much all drugs.

 

[Junglejim]

There is no drug problem you guys. We are doingbit wrong in the Philippines.

 

[HisRoyalHighness]

It's a matter of capacity mainly with brilliant *ahum* budget cuts across the entire security and defence spectrum by governments obsessed with complying with EU budgetary rules (especially during the financial crisis) leading to agents being made redundant and investment in new equipment being pushed back repeatedly. The other aspect is corruption and PERSEC. In customs you don't earn all that much so it's easy to be seduced by criminals and if that doesn't work threatening violence will. Sentences for actual violence are a joke never mind mere threats so no one bothers reporting it and it's virtually risk free for criminals.

In the Netherlands LAWs have been fired at the offices of newspapers reporting on drug traffickers and a public prosecutors office. The lawyer of a witness for the prosecution in the case against the largest drug trafficker in the country was murdered recently, the witness' brother was murdered already earlier. The trafficker is believed to be staying in one of the Gulf states and reportedly under the protection of the Iranian secret service as he is suspected of having had several assassinations carried out for them of political opponents in Europe.

Politicians just downplay these threats and continue to do nothing because human rights, privacy, trusting the police forces of narco/terrorist states etc. The main idea especially politicians on the left have to get rid of these drug problems is to legalize pretty much all drugs.

Seriously?

 

[Mike1976]

Seriously?

Panorama-pand met raketwerper beschoten

Update 11.04 uur - In het pand dat donderdagavond in Amsterdam is beschoten met een antitankwapen, zit onder meer de redactie van misdaadtijdschrift Panorama. De politie heeft vannacht een man…

www.telegraaf.nl

Rechtbank Amsterdam beschoten

Bij de beschieting van de Amsterdamse rechtbank, dinsdagnacht, is niemand gewond geraakt; wel was de schade groot. Woensdag werd er evenwel gewoon gewerkt. Minister Ivo Opstelten van Veiligheid en Justitie (VVD) reageerde geschokt en sprak van 'een aanslag op de rechtsstaat'.

www.volkskrant.nl

Also a van was driven into the lobby of a newspaper office and set alight. A high level drug trafficker is suspected of having ordered that one. The newspaper publishes a lot about criminals.

‘Plegers aanslag op kantoor Telegraaf kregen opdracht vanuit de cel’

Topcrimineel Iliass K. zou vanuit de gevangenis een groep criminelen hebben aangestuurd die onder meer de aanslag op het kantoor van De Telegraaf op zijn conto heeft. Dat deed hij met behulp van binnengesmokkelde telefoons, zo blijkt uit vertrouwelijke justitiestukken uit het dossier rond een...

www.ad.nl

Loads of crocodile tears from the usual suspects in politics and a day later it's nothing to see here people, move along.

 

[Ivan le Fou]

Cocaine first exporter?

Huh... makes me wonder if there would be ways to integrate it to gastronomic cuisine.

 

[HisRoyalHighness]

Panorama-pand met raketwerper beschoten

Update 11.04 uur - In het pand dat donderdagavond in Amsterdam is beschoten met een antitankwapen, zit onder meer de redactie van misdaadtijdschrift Panorama. De politie heeft vannacht een man…

www.telegraaf.nl

Rechtbank Amsterdam beschoten

Bij de beschieting van de Amsterdamse rechtbank, dinsdagnacht, is niemand gewond geraakt; wel was de schade groot. Woensdag werd er evenwel gewoon gewerkt. Minister Ivo Opstelten van Veiligheid en Justitie (VVD) reageerde geschokt en sprak van 'een aanslag op de rechtsstaat'.

www.volkskrant.nl

Also a van was driven into the lobby of a newspaper office and set alight. A high level drug trafficker is suspected of having ordered that one. The newspaper publishes a lot about criminals.

‘Plegers aanslag op kantoor Telegraaf kregen opdracht vanuit de cel’

Topcrimineel Iliass K. zou vanuit de gevangenis een groep criminelen hebben aangestuurd die onder meer de aanslag op het kantoor van De Telegraaf op zijn conto heeft. Dat deed hij met behulp van binnengesmokkelde telefoons, zo blijkt uit vertrouwelijke justitiestukken uit het dossier rond een...

www.ad.nl

Loads of crocodile tears from the usual suspects in politics and a day later it's nothing to see here people, move along.

Crime-related RPG attacks happened a lot in the ex-USSR, but that was during the 1990s.

To think this happened last year in a Western European state with advanced CCTV/electronic surveillance systems and by a drug gang no less.

 

[Mike1976]

The lawyer of a witness for the prosecution in the case against the largest drug trafficker in the country was murdered recently, the witness' brother was murdered already earlier. The trafficker is believed to be staying in one of the Gulf states and reportedly under the protection of the Iranian secret service as he is suspected of having had several assassinations carried out for them of political opponents in Europe.

This guy, Ridouan Taghi, was arrested last night in Dubai. A number of his associates were arrested recently so either someone sang or their electronic comms were compromised. Lawyers specialized in international law point out that due to the absence of an extradition treaty between the Netherlands and Dubai the only way to get him extradited might be based on a UN treaty, which does not allow suspects to be charged for things like drug trafficking and murder. Only association with a criminal enterprise might be applicable which in the Netherlands carries a maximum sentence of 6 years.

The UN coming to the rescue of murderers yet again ...

 

[Mike1976]

Update: Police carried out raids at various locations including houses of family members. This saw journalists being threatened by groups of the culturally enriched members of society and police being forced to draw their weapons.

 

[Mike1976]

This guy, Ridouan Taghi, was arrested last night in Dubai.

To get around the no-extradition treaty Dubai revoked his status and he was flown to Eindhoven AFB on a privately chartered aircraft before being moved by helicopter to the maximum security prison where security has been ramped up significantly.

His lawyer has called this kidnapping. I suppose we could always send him back to Dubai so they can send him to Morocco. He had the son of a prominent Moroccan judge accidentally killed by mistake so I'm sure they can't wait to meat him.

 

[Jake84]

Related, in Ireland ??

How drug wars in Ireland led to the murder and dismemberment of a teenage boy | CNN

The remains of teenager Keane Mulready-Woods, brutally killed and dismembered, exposes Ireland's changing underworld of drug-dealing gangs that are recruiting boys to carry out acts of violence.

edition.cnn.com

 

[Fluff]

According to police and customs the ratio of drugs seized is only 10% at best. Unfortunately
There is still room for improvment

Only a small % of vehicles are scanned, and actually you still need a highly skilled operator to spot say 2kg of drugs in a 40’ iso container, on a truck. There are hundreds of hiding places....x ray images look great, but it’s mostly intelligence led, I.e. grasses and snitches.... the x ray is for verification, without tearing down the truck. If you have visions of all containers being scanned as they come into Europe, forget it.

 

[HisRoyalHighness]

Is the Netherlands becoming a narco-state?

"We definitely have the characteristics of a narco-state," confides Jan Struijs, chairman of the biggest Dutch police union. "Sure we're not Mexico. We don't have 14,400 murders. But if you look at the infrastructure, the big money earned by organised crime, the parallel economy. Yes, we have a narco-state."

"It's street slang. Young Moroccans call each other 'Mocro'," says Laumans, who wrote the book with Marijn Schrijver. "We came up with Mocro Mafia to encapsulate what the book was about. Now I see they're using it in police reports. But it's not only Moroccans. It's about young boys growing up in areas of Amsterdam where tourists never go. "It's not canals, the Rijksmuseum, Van Gogh. It's the housing estates. They don't have the same opportunities. They are aspirational, they are looking for a career in the underworld."

Even before Wiersum's murder, a report commissioned by the mayor of Amsterdam in August described the capital as a "Valhalla for drugs criminals".

The Netherlands wasn't yet a narco-state but was in danger of becoming one, warned Justice Minister Ferd Grapperhaus.

Without firm intervention, he said, "you'll get a minister standing here in dark glasses, rather that someone simply giving democratic accountability".

"We knew it was coming," Jan Struijs told me. "Lawyers, mayors, police officers - we've all been threatened by organised crime. All the alarms have been sounding but the politicians have been naive. Now it's rotting the concrete of our society."

The Netherlands has in a sense created the perfect environment for the drugs trade to flourish.

With its extensive transport network, its lenient drug laws and penalties, and its proximity to a number of lucrative markets, it is an obvious hub for the global narcotics flow.

Renowned writer Roberto Saviano, who chronicled the organised crime world of the Naples Camorra network, believes mafia influence in Amsterdam is even worse.

"There are clans from all over the world, because the Netherlands is one of the most important transit ports. They know whoever controls the Netherlands has one of the arteries of the global drug market," he told the Volkskrant newspaper.

Billions and billions of euros are earned on the black market. Synthetic drugs with a street value of €18.9bn (£16bn; $22bn) were produced in the Netherlands in 2017.

Soft drugs have been imported from Colombia and North Africa for 30 years. Today a significant portion of synthetic drugs - MDMA, LSD, amphetamines, GHB and crystal meth - are produced in the Netherlands. In fact the country is considered a world leader.

Is the Netherlands becoming a narco-state?

The murder of a prominent lawyer ended a common misconception: that drug cartels only kill their own.

www.bbc.com

I didn’t think the rabbit hole would go that far neither did I think the Netherlands would be a prime source of synthetic drugs, I always thought Central Asia, Eastern Europe, or the Balkans were the source for Western Europe’s narcotics.