Drugs information bulletin. Special edition 2001.
Date: 2002-02-22
Institutions: Europol
Subjects: narcotic, serial publication

1609-2813 

Drugs  Information 
Bulletin 

E U RO 

Special edition 

European  Union situation  report  on drug 
production  and  drug trafficking 

2000-0] 

Open  version 

This report  is  an  open  version of  the  restricted  (level  Europol  I)  full 
'European  Union situation report on drug production and drug  trafficking 
2000-01'.  This open version  will be available in four languages  (English, 
French,  German and Spanish). The non-English versions  have not been 
translated yet and  will be released at a later date. 

Pictures  in  this report  are protected  by copyright and  were provided by 
(alphabetic order): 

Belgian Federal Police; Bundeskriminalamt OA 25, Wiesbaden/Germany; 
Dirección  Adjunta  de  Vigilancia Aduanera/Spain;  European Council; 
Europol; Politie Haaglanden/the  Netherlands; Politie Hollands-Midden/ 
the  Netherlands; Politie  Utrecht/the  Netherlands;  Unit  Synthetic  Drugs 
(USD)/the Netherlands 

Executive summary 

European Union 
situation report on 
drug production and 
drug trafficking 

The  total  areas  under  opium  poppy  and  coca  bush 
cultivation are relatively small. They are only three times 
the  size of  cities such as New York or  Berlin and repre 
sent  1  % of arable land in the main producing countries. 
Yet,  if  just  1 °/o  of  arable  land  in  a few  medium-sized 
countries is sufficient to guarantee global supply of hero 
in  and  cocaine,  there  remains  a  constant  danger  of 
displacement:  production  shifting  to  other  areas  in 
response to eradication. 

Global  statistics  show  a concentration  of  drug seizures, 
with  some  75  %  of  worldwide  seizures  of  all  types  of 
illicit  drugs  occurring  in  just  a  few  countries.  These 
include Spain, the Netherlands and the  United Kingdom 
in  the  trafficking  of  cannabis  resin,  in  addition  to 

Morocco  and  Pakistan; Spain  in  cocaine  trafficking with 
the  United  States, Colombia,  Mexico  and  Panama  plus 
the  Netherlands and the  United  Kingdom  in the traffick 
ing of  synthetic  drugs, together  with  the  United  States, 
Thailand  and China. 

Drug abuse in the European Union remains at a consid 
erably high level, although there are regional  differences 
in  the  prevalence  of  drugs  and  the  level  of  abuse. 
According to the  European  Monitoring Centre for  Drugs 
and Drug Addiction  ('),  in their  lifetime  45  million peo 
ple in the  European  Union  have used cannabis,  1-6  % 

(')  EMCDDA, '2000  annual report on the state of the drugs  problem 

in the  European  Union', Lisbon, 2000. 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs  Information  Bulletin 

of young adults have tried cocaine, between  1 and 5  % 
of those aged  16 to  34  have taken amphetamines  and 
1-2  %  of  young  adults  have  tried  heroin.  Arrests  for 
drug  offences  have  increased  markedly  since  1994. 
Greece,  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  Portugal  and  Finland 
report  the  highest  recent  increases, whilst  in  Denmark 
and  Luxembourg levels have stabilised. 

With  a variety  of  European  Union  drug  production  and 
entry points, there  is a large-scale  ¡ntra-European  Union 
trafficking of all types of  drugs. Cannabis from  Morocco, 
for  instance, is transported  along the  South-North  axis, 
from  Spain  all  the  way  up  to  Denmark  and  Sweden. 
Synthetic  drugs  produced  in  the  Netherlands  and 
Belgium  are  finding  their  way  to  markets  in  all  the 
Member  States, as  is the  case  for  cocaine  that  mainly 
enters the territory of the  European  Union via Spain, the 
Netherlands,  Italy or Belgium. Whilst cannabis trafficking 
into the  Member  States continues  at a high  level, there 
appears to  be a notable  increase  in cannabis  cultivation 
within  the  European  Union.  Criminal  opportunities  for 
this  ¡ntra-European  Union trafficking  have been  assisted 
by  the  abolition  of  internal  border  controls,  by  differ 
ences in legislation  in various Member  States and  insuf 
ficient  levels  of  international  law-enforcement  and judi 
cial cooperation. 

The continuous worldwide  demand for illicit drugs is the 
driving force behind their cultivation and production and 
stimulates the activities of organised drug trafficking. The 
organised drug crime situation  in the  European  Union is 
characterised by regional differences with  respect to the 
ethnicity, structure  and dominance  of  criminal organisa 
tions. 

Member  States give a high  priority to  the  combating of 
organised  drug trafficking.  Several  have  improved  data 
base  systems  and  crime  analysis  techniques  and  have 
assigned extra  resources to  drug investigation teams. 

In 2000  and  2001, there were  many good examples of 
law-enforcement 
international  cooperation  between 
agencies  and  judicial  authorities  in  the  Member  States 
and with services in source and transit countries. In sev 
eral  cases  this  has  led  to  the  disruption  of  criminal 
groups and the  seizure  of  significant  amounts  of  drugs, 
precursors,  equipment  and  proceeds.  Formal  agree 
ments  between  Europol, accession  countries  and  inter 
national organisations such as Interpol and the EMCDDA 
will provide a basis for enhanced cooperation at an inter 
national level. 

However, in spite of  progress made there  is still consid 
erable  room  for  improvement.  Too often, the  emphasis 
of  international  cooperation  is  on  achieving  short-term 
objectives and often  in the interests of one party only. A 

proper  balance  between  national  and  European  Union-
wide interests and  priorities  is needed. 

In recent years, Member States have undertaken various 
cooperation  initiatives  through  Europol. These  relate  to 
the  exchange  of  information  and  intelligence  and  the 
supply,  by  Europol, of  expertise  and training. Europol  is 
determined  to  continue  and  expand  its  contribution  to 
international  law-enforcement  cooperation. 

Implementation  of  the  European  Union  action  plan  on 
drugs  2000-04  (2)  is  on  schedule.  The  Commission 
has presented  a progress  report to  the  Council  and the 
European  Parliament that gives an overview of  progress 
made  so  far  by  itself,  Europol  and  the  EMCDDA  with 
regard  to  the  various  activities  in  which  they  are 
involved (3). The final  report will  include  an overview  of 
achievements  in the  Member States. 

The political level, through the establishment  of Europol, 
the  European  Police  Chiefs  Task  Force,  Eurojust  and 
legal  instruments,  has  created  the  right  basis  for 
European  Union-wide 
law-enforcement  and  judicial 
cooperation.  It  is  now  up  to  the  law-enforcement  and 
judicial  community  of  the  Member  States, to  make full 
use  of  these  possibilities,  thus  contributing  to  the 
Union's  objective  to  create a high  level  of  safety  within 
an area of freedom, security  and justice. 

(2)  Council  of the  European  Union, Document  9283/00, Cordrogue 

32,  Brussels, 7 June  2000. 

(3)  European  Commission,  Document  COM(2001)  301  final,  com 
munication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  and  the 
European  Parliament  on  the  implementation  of  the  European 
Union  action  plan  on  drugs  (2000-04),  Brussels,  8  June 2001. 
Cover  Note  10207/01, Cordrogue 43, 22 June 2001. 

Council  of the  European  Union, Brussels, Belgium 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

Drug-related  organised  crime 

Introduction 

'Changes  in  the  world  political  economy  and  advances 
in  technology  have  had  a  significant  impact  on  the 
scope and  nature of the  drug problem. Strides  in bank 
ing  deregulation  and  the  privatisation  of  State-owned 
businesses,  intended  to  encourage  investments  and 
economic  development,  also  leave  economic  systems 
vulnerable to  criminal  organisations. In ways not dissim 
ilar  to  business  enterprises,  criminal  organisations 
involved  in  illicit drugs  have  responded to  opportunities 
created by a globalising market economy'  (4). 

Production and trafficking of drugs remain the prime activ 
ities of criminal groups in the European Union. Nowadays, 
most  organised  crime  groups  involved  in drug trafficking 
no longer limit their activities to one type of drug, which is 
reflected in the increasing number of 'poly-drug' seizures. 
Also,  there  is  a  tendency  in  many  Member  States  for 
increased  cooperation  between  independent  organised 
crime groups trading in different types of drugs. 

Within  the  European  Union  there  are  significant  differ 
ences in the appearance  of organised crime. In Sweden 
and Finland, for instance, criminal groups tend to be less 
hierarchical  and  less  prominent  when  compared  to, for 
instance, the  Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Italy. 

There  are  also  differences  between  Member  States as 
regards  the  role  of  specific  ethnic  criminal  groups. 
Turkish  organised  crime groups  dominate the  trafficking 
of  heroin  in  the  Netherlands,  the  United  Kingdom, 
Germany  and  Belgium  and  also  extend  their  influence 
into  the 
Iberian  Peninsula,  whilst  ethnic  Albanian-
Yugoslavs  target  Austria,  parts  of  Germany  and  the 
Nordic  countries. Groups from Albania are very active in 
Italy  and Greece, whilst  Estonians  and  Lithuanians  con 
centrate  their  activities  on  Finland  and  Sweden.  Polish 
organised  crime  groups  in  Sweden  are  ramifications  of 
larger  Polish  groups  outside  the  country  and  they  are 
particularly  involved  in  the  trafficking  of  amphetamine 
from  Poland.  The  organised  crime  situation  in  Italy  is 
dominated  by  traditional  organisations  such  as  the 
Mafia,  Camorra,  N'drangheta  and  Nueva  Sacra  Corona 
Unita.  Ethnic  criminal  groups  such  as  Albanians  and 
Nigerians  play  an  increasingly  significant  role  in  Italy, 
fuelled  by continuing migration flows. 

Local groups  based in the  Member  States carry out the 
distribution  at  the  lower  end  of  the  market.  German 

(4)  United  Nations  Office  for  Drug  Control  and  Crime  Prevention, 

'World drugs report 2000'. 

nationals are the  main suspects involved  in the distribu 
tion  of  drugs  in  Germany  at  a  local  level.  In  the 
Netherlands,  in  addition  to  Dutch  groups,  Surinamese, 
Antillians  and  Moroccans  play  a  major  role  in  this  seg 
ment  of  the  market;  in  some  Member  States  such  as 
Italy  and  Sweden, this  role  is  undertaken  by  Nigerians, 
as  it  is  by  Jamaicans  in  several  cities  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  Cape  Verdians  in  Portugal,  North  Africans  in 
France and Albanians  in Greece and Italy. 

The following four types of generic criminal groups pose 
significant threats to the European Union Member States. 

Turkish  criminal  organisations 

Turkish  groups  play  a  prominent  role  in  the  trafficking 
and  wholesale  distribution  of  heroin  in  the  European 
Union. The  groups,  although  autonomous,  often  coop 
erate, for  instance  in the  joint  importation  of  large con 
signments  of  heroin  transported  by  lorry,  with  various 
shares individually marked. 

Recruitment  of  members  is based  on family  and matri 
monial  ties  or  long-lasting  relationships.  Social  relations 
are  as  much  the  basis  for  Turkish  groups  as  ethnicity, 
although the  latter  is an important  and inevitable  factor 
since families  and friends  are often from the  same eth 
nic group. Every family has direct contacts with  its mem 
bers  in other  Member  States. This allows for  a constant 
movement  of  group  members  across  the  European 
Union  and  to  other  countries  where  they  may  be 
unknown  to  the  authorities  and  where  they  hide 
amongst Turkish and Kurdish communities. Criminal ele 
ments within these communities facilitate heroin smug 
gling operations to  and via these countries. 

In some  Member  States, Turkish criminal  groups  recruit 
second and third generation fellow-countrymen. On one 
hand, organisations  benefit from their skills in legitimate 
businesses  but  on  the  other,  it  makes them  more  vul 
nerable  to  law-enforcement  actions  as  these  young 
adults  do  not  apply or accept the  strict  rules of  secrecy 
and internal discipline  of the organisation. 

Turkish  groups  use  frequent  violence,  either  against 
other groups in case of the need to protect their  market 
share  or,  internally,  for  disciplinary  reasons.  They  are 
increasingly engaged in the trafficking of ecstasy, cocaine 
and  cannabis  and  to  that  aim  they  have  contacts  with 
other  ethnic  groups 
including  Colombians  and 
Moroccans.  The  groups  invest  part  of  their  profits  in 
legitimate  businesses  such  as  import  firms,  transport 
companies  and  coffee  houses  in  the  Member  States. 

the  laundering  of  proceeds. The  groups  apply  a strong 
top-down  structure  and  a  controlling  leadership.  Cell 
members are kept unaware of the fact that they  belong 
to  a  bigger  organisation  and  of  the  existence  of  other 
cells.  Cell  leaders  report  to  a  'regional  manager'  who 
controls  several  cells.  This  manager  will  report  to  the 
leadership  in Colombia. The cells cooperate with indige 
nous  groups  in  the  Member  States  for  the  secondary 
distribution  of the drugs. 

West  African  criminal  organisations 

West  African  organised  crime  groups,  in  particular 
Nigerians, have been active in the  European Union for a 
long time. Their main activities are the trafficking of hero 
in and cocaine, which  is smuggled into Africa for onward 
shipment  to  the  European  Union  both  directly  or  via 
eastern  Europe,  and  to  the  United  States.  Cocaine  is 
smuggled from virtually every country  in South America, 
directly  and via transit  regions  such  as Central America, 
the  Caribbean,  North  America  and  Africa  to 
the 
European Union. Nigeria, the  Ivory Coast and Ghana are 
major transit  points for  heroin from  South-East Asia and 
cocaine  from  Latin  America,  with  large  stockpiles  of 
cocaine  in  Lagos, Nigeria. Criminal  activities  are facilitat 
ed by the presence of  large Nigerian expatriate commu 
nities  in various  parts  of  the  world, including the  major 
drug-producing  regions. 

West African groups are family or tribally  based but may, 
however, work with  other Africans or  non-Africans. They 
are  homogeneous  in character  and operate  on  a global 
scale, which emphasises the good communications  that 
exist between the different  groups. Couriers seem to be 
recruited  throughout  Europe  and  are  then  treated  as a 
commodity, to be traded amongst the trafficking groups. 
The  success  of  the  groups  lies  in  facilitating  the  trans 
portation and distribution of illicit products. The frequen 
cy  of  importation  is  very  high  with  some  couriers  in 
Europe  recently  admitting  to  making  in  excess  of  30 
deliveries. 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs  Information  Bulletin 

Often  these  firms  are  run  by  'frontmen'  and  used  for 
activities  such  as  the  trafficking  of  drugs  and  money 
transactions. Most proceeds are sent to Turkey for invest 
ment  in the construction  and tourist industry. 

Ethnic  Albanian-Yugoslav  criminal 
networks 

Ethnic Albanian-Yugoslav  groups are increasingly gaining 
an  impact  on  the  European  Union,  notably  on  Austria, 
Germany  and  the  northern  part  of  the  Union.  In 
Germany, they  have  become  the  third  most  important 
ethnic criminal group, after Turks and Italians. Their posi 
tion  has been reinforced  due to the  political situation in 
Kosovo and the subsequent  spreading of  refugees over 
the  territory  of  the  European  Union.  This  provides  an 
appropriate  environment  for their  criminal  activities  and 
for the recruitment of new members thus preventing the 
involvement  of  outsiders and guaranteeing the continu 
ity of the group. 

A  strong  leadership,  family  or  clan  structure  in  which 
men dominate, the frequent use of violence and a high 
ly  developed  sense  of  honour  characterise  the  ethnic 
Albanian-Yugoslav  criminal  groups. Their  main  activities 
are  the  trafficking  of  heroin,  cannabis  and  cocaine, 
money  laundering  and  other  economic  crimes.  They 
have contacts with ethnic Albanian-Yugoslav  suppliers in 
Turkey and with  heroin depots  in  central  Europe. 

Colombian  criminal  organisations 

Criminal  organisations  based  in  Colombia  supply  up to 
8 0%  of  the  global  cocaine  markets.  These  groups, 
although  in  competition,  often  cooperate  to  the  extent 
that they may jointly carry out major cocaine shipments. 
In the  latter  case,  logos  are  put  on  the  cocaine  or  the 
packaging  to  identify  the  various  owners  of  the  drugs. 
Thus,  they  form  a  kind  of  consortium  in  which  each 
group operates  more or less independently. This is gen 
erally still referred to as a cartel but is in reality a flexible 
and ever-changing joint venture structure. These organi 
sations  cooperate  with  contractors: criminal  groups that 
are  specialised  in  the  processing  of  cocaine, the trans 
portation  of the  drugs, money  laundering or  protection. 
In  addition,  they  use  independent  facilitators  such  as 
chemists, pilots, financial  experts, lawyers, etc. (5). 

Colombian  criminal  groups  have  set  up  cells  in  several 
Member  States. Some of these  have specialised  in cer 
tain  aspects  of  the  drug  trade,  for  instance  the  trans 
portation, storage and wholesale distribution  of  drugs or 

(5)  S.  J.  Zubludoff,  'Colombian  narcotics  organisations  as  business 
enterprises',  Transnational Organised Crime, Vol. 3,  No  2,  1997, 
pp. 20-49. 

Law enforcement 

Member States'  initiatives 

Member  States give a high  priority to  the  combating of 
organised drug trafficking. In Finland, for instance, organ 
ised  criminal  groups  are  systematically  selected  as tar 
gets  for  intelligence  operations  and  criminal  investiga 
tions. To this  effect, database systems and crime analy 
sis  techniques  are  being  developed  further,  and  extra 
human  resources  have  been  assigned to  drugs investi 
gation  teams  and  international  cooperation,  particularly 
with  Russia and Estonia. 

In Denmark, the Steering Group for Investigative Support 
and  Transnational  Organised  Crime  was  established  in 
2000. The group should develop and upgrade strategies 
relating to  law-enforcement  efforts  in the  combating of 
serious  crime.  It  has  also  been  decided  to  establish 
regional  investigative support centres. 

In Germany, the  Bundeskriminalamt  (BKA)  is reassess 
ing its activities  in the  combating of  international organ 
ised drug trafficking. The objective is to move away from 
towards  a  more  structured 
ad  hoc  interventions 
approach  based on an inventory and subsequent priori-
tisation  of  action against organised crime groups. 

In the  Netherlands, several  investigations  into  drug traf 
ficking  groups  were  concluded  successfully.  The  six 
regional  or  'core'  teams  and  the  National  Investigation 
Team  carry  out  the  majority  of  criminal  investigations 
into  organised  crime. The  role  of  the  Unit for  Synthetic 
Drugs,  which  is  responsible  for  the  coordination  of 
national  and 
investigations,  will  be 
strengthened  and four  additional  ecstasy teams  will  be 
created. With  a view  to  reducing the  export  of  ecstasy, 
external  border  controls  will  be  extended  to  departing 
passengers, freight  and express services. 

international 

Initiatives  at  European  Union level 

'Organised crime, in its essence, is a local  phenomenon 
that  should  primarily  be  addressed  by  local  authorities. 
For  instance,  the  control,  several  years  ago,  of  the 
Amsterdam  nightlife  by  criminal  groups  required  initia 
tives by the City Council of Amsterdam  rather than inter 
national  law-enforcement  cooperation.  The  role  of  the 
Mafia  in  the  Italian  construction  sector  needs  adminis 
trative and judicial  actions at  local and at  national level, 
rather  than  international  initiatives. This  also  applies  to 
the combating of international organised drug trafficking. 
Here  too, the  phenomenon  has  a strong  local  impact. 
Any international law-enforcement  initiative against such 
groups, therefore, is doomed to  be limited  to  the com 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

bating of  incidents,  if this  is  not  integrated  into  a policy 
that  also  addresses  the  local  settings  in  which  criminal 
groups  or  their  members  can  exist  and  carry  out  their 
illicit activities'  (6). 

Council of the  European  Union, Brussels, Belgium 

In 2000  and 2001, there were  many good examples of 
law-enforcement 
international  cooperation  between 
agencies  and  judicial  authorities  in  the  Member  States 
and with services in source and transit countries. In sev 
eral  cases,  this  has  led  to  the  disruption  of  criminal 
groups  and the  seizure  of  significant  amounts  of drugs, 
precursors, equipment and proceeds. (Drug)  liaison offi 
cers  often  play  a  crucial  role  in  the  exchange  of  infor 
mation  and intelligence. 

The availability of  precursors  plays a key role in the pro 
duction  of  drugs.  Therefore,  the  United  Nations 
International  Narcotics  Control  Board  (INCB)  has 
launched  a global  initiative,  called  Operation  Topaz, on 
acetic anhydride. The objective is to prevent its diversion 
from  licit  international  trade  through  an  intensive  track 
ing  programme  from  manufacturing  countries  to  the 
final  destination  and  to  intercept  consignments  and 
investigate  seizures. The  initiative  involves  law-enforce 
ment and regulatory agencies of many countries, includ 
ing several Member  States. Europol, in cooperation with 
the  National  Criminal  Intelligence  Service  (NCIS)  of the 
United  Kingdom,  undertakes  coordination  at  European 
Union  level for  law-enforcement  intelligence, with OLAF 
being responsible for administrative  matters. 

(6)  Professor  Cyrill  Fijnaut,  speech  given  at  the  27th  ICPO/lnterpol 
European  Meeting  of  Heads  of  National  Drug  Services,  Lyon, 
5-7  June 2001. 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs  Information  Bulletin 

In 2000  and 2001, Member  States also undertook vari 
ous  cooperation  initiatives  through  Europol.  A  total  of 
1 922  new  cases  were  initiated, which  involved  9 409 
individual  requests  for  assistance:  1  757  of  the  new 
cases related to the exchange of  information  and intelli 
gence,  127 to  the  supply,  by  Europol, of  expertise  and 
another  38  were  requests  for  coordination  of  activities 
and  other  contacts.  The  majority  of  cases  were  drug-
related. Also,  41  controlled  deliveries  were  carried  out 
through  and supported  by Europol. 

Under  the  Phare  programme,  Europol  contributed,  in 
May 2001, to two training courses for  law-enforcement 
staff,  public  prosecutors  and  forensic  scientists  from 
Poland and the  Baltic  States  on the  dismantling  of  syn 
thetic  drug  laboratories.  Europol  and  experts  from  the 
Member  States are also developing a harmonised data 
base  on  drug seizures. This should  lead to  a European 
Union-wide  standardised  collection  of  data,  which  will 
contribute  to  a  better  comparison  and  analysis  of  the 
drug situation  in the  European Union. 

Estonia,  Slovenia,  Poland  and  Hungary  are  underway. 
This  will  lead to  the  establishment  of  Europol  national 
units  in  those  countries  and  the  posting  of  liaison  offi 
cers to  Europol. An agreement for cooperation was also 
concluded  with  the  European  Monitoring  Centre  for 
Drugs  and  Drug Addiction  in  Lisbon  and  ICPO/lnterpol. 
Relations  with  the  European  Commission  and  the 
European Central  Bank will also be formalised. 

In  spite  of  progress  made  in  international  law-enforce 
ment  and judicial  cooperation, there is still  considerable 
room  for  improvement. Too often, international  cooper 
ation has its emphasis on achieving reactionary or short-
term  objectives,  resulting  in  too  narrow  a  focus.  Even 
more  disturbing is the fact that the  international dimen 
sion  is  sometimes  ignored  due  to  the  lack  of  proper 
resources or  local and  regional  priorities. 

A  proper  balance  between  national  and  European 
Union-wide  interests and priorities is needed. This could 
be achieved through the collection and analysis of intel 
ligence  relating  to  criminal  groups  that  have  a  major 
impact  on  parts  or  the  whole  of  the  European  Union. 
Subsequently,  according to  a prioritisation,  set  by  (Pro) 
Eurojust  and  actively  supported  by  Europol  and  the 
European  Chiefs  of  Police  Task  Force,  these  criminal 
organisations  should  be jointly tackled at an internation 
al level, not on a reactionary, but  on a structured basis. 

In  2001,  Europol  concluded  cooperation  agreements 
with  Norway  and  Iceland  and  similar  agreements  with 

Europol  building in The  Hague, the  Netherlands 

Political  initiatives 

Member  S t a t e s'  initiatives 

In  2000  and  2001,  several  political  initiatives  were 
undertaken  in  the  Member  States  and  at  European 
Union  level with  a view to  addressing the  drug problem 
and to enhancing the  effectiveness  of  law enforcement. 

The  Belgian Government  launched the 'National securi 
ty plan 2000-01', which contains various initiatives relat 
ing  to  drugs.  Priorities  are  the  combating  of  synthetic 
drugs, cocaine and precursors. Several measures relating 

to  the  detection  and  dismantling  of  illicit  synthetic  drug 
laboratories, active participation  in European  Union-wide 
law-enforcement  projects against cocaine trafficking and 
the  creation of joint  investigation teams are foreseen. 

In January  2001, the government  introduced a new fed 
eral  drug  policy.  Key  elements  are  the 
integrated 
the  drug  phenomenon,  evaluation, 
approach 
research, epidemiology,  health  and  social  care, preven 
tion  and  repression. Although  possession  of  all types of 

to 

illicit  drugs  will  remain  an  offence, the  possession  of a 
small  quantity  of  cannabis  for  personal  use  by  non-
problematic  adult  users  will  no  longer  be  prosecuted 
unless  the  user  causes  public  or  social  nuisance,  for 
instance by using cannabis in the  presence of  minors. 

In the  spring of  2001, the  Dutch  Government  present 
ed the  policy  paper  'Conspiracy  against XTC'. In view  of 
the growing concern on the  role of the Netherlands as a 
global  distributor  of  ecstasy, the  government  will  intro 
duce measures to intensify interventions from chemicals 
to  production  and  distribution  of  ecstasy.  At  European 
Union  level,  the  government  will  propose  legislative 
measures against preparatory actions made with the ulti 
mate intention of committing drug offences. This relates 
to  the  diversion  of  certain  chemicals  used  in  the  pro 
duction  of  synthetic  drugs  that  are  not  included  in  EU 
regulations  and  the  use  of  tabletting  machines  in  the 
production  of ecstasy. 

In April  2001, the  Portuguese  Government  announced 
a  national  anti-drugs  plan,  called  'Horizon  2004'.  The 
plan  aims  at  creating  nation-wide  networks  to  prevent 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

the  increase  of  new  drug  users and to  reduce the  risks 
of  drug  abuse.  The  fight  against  drug  trafficking  and 
money  laundering  will  be  reinforced  by  improving  the 
technological  capacities  of  law-enforcement  agencies, 
by  increasing  their  staff,  dedicating  more  resources  to 
the  combating  of  trafficking  in  synthetic  drugs  and  by 
strengthening inter-agency cooperation. 

The  United  Kingdom  Government  aims  to  halve  the 
availability  of  drugs  by  2008.  In  2000,  GBP  1.2  billion 
was committed to combat abuse and trafficking of hero 
in  and  cocaine.  In  March  2001,  the  government 
announced  another  GBP 67  million  over the  next three 
years to reduce drug-related crime. This extra budget will 
be used to  improve the  collection  and analysis of  infor 
mation  and  intelligence  on  the  drug  trade,  to  provide 
assistance  and  training  for  overseas  law-enforcement 
agencies in key source and transit  countries and for the 
increased targeting of major  drug traffickers. 

In  Germany,  in  May  2001, the  Social  Democrats  Party 
(SPD)  of  Chancellor  Schroder  issued  a  policy  paper 
called  'Responsibility  for  Europe',  which  contains  pro 
posals  to  restructure  European  Union  institutions  and 
competencies.  In  the  field  of  law  enforcement,  the 
paper  proposes  to  transfer  Europol  into  an  operative 
police force with  executive powers  in all Member States 
based  on  the  concept  of  the  Bundeskriminalamt.  The 
paper  also  calls  for  the  creation  of  a  European  Union 
border  control  service  to  protect  the  Union's  future 
external borders against organised crime. 

In May 2001, the  French Prime Minister Jospin support 
ed the  idea of  creating an operational  law-enforcement 
agency of which  Europol should be the core, and a spe 
cific  police  force  responsible  for  the  protection  of  the 
external borders  and international  airports of the Union. 

Initiatives  at  European  Union level 

'Although  much  is already  being done, the  fight against 
drugs  must  be  intensified  and  made  more  effective,  in 
particular with a view to accelerating the implementation 
of  the  Tampere  conclusions  and  the  European  Union 
action  plan on drugs 2000-04'  (7). 

Based on the  European Union action  plan on drugs, the 
European  Commission,  in  March  2001, announced  a 
proposal  for  a  Council  decision  to  establish  minimum 
rules  for  penal  infringements  and  sanctions  applied 
trafficking.  The 
against  drug  abuse  and  drug 
Commission's  proposals foresee  a minimum  penalty of 
seven  years'  imprisonment  for  a  third  conviction  and 

Sophisticated  MDMA  production  site seized in the  Netherlands 

15 March 2001. 

(7)  Justice  and  Home  Affairs  (JHA)  Council,  Conclusions,  Brussels, 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

passport  confiscation  and travel  bans for  those  convict 
ed of  serious drug trafficking offences. 

The  May 2001  Justice and  Home Affairs  Council  (JHA) 
endorsed  a  Council  decision  on  the  transmission 
between  Member  States  of  drug  samples  for  the  pur 
poses  of  prevention, detection, investigation  and prose 
cution of criminal offences  (8). Under the decision, sam 
ples  of  drugs  seized  in  one  Member  State can  be sent 
to  another  Member  State  to  be  used  as  evidence  in 
court,  for  drug  profiling,  etc.  The  decision  entered  into 
force on  1 July 2001. 

The Swedish  Presidency tabled a proposal for the profil 
ing  of  drugs  through  special  forensic  analysis:  the  so-
called  CASE-initiative  (Comprehensive  actions  against 
synthetic  drugs  in  Europe).  The  initiative  calls  for 
Member  States  to  report  to  Europol  information  and 
intelligence  relating  to  seizures  of  amphetamine  whilst 
at the  same time  sending samples  of  seized  drugs to a 
designated  forensic  laboratory  in  one  of  the  Member 
States. The  laboratory  will  analyse  the  samples  with  a 
view to obtaining 'fingerprints' of substances seized and 
store the  results  in a database.  In case of  a match  with 
another sample, Member  States concerned and Europol 
will  be informed. 

The  Swedish  Presidency  proposed  to  amend  the 
Europol  Convention  by  adding  a  protocol, which  takes 
into  account  two  Council  decisions.  One  enables 
Europol  to  ask  Member  States  to  start  criminal  investi 
gations and the  other allows Europol staff to take part in 
joint  investigative  teams  through  the  coordination  of 
operations, the  exchange  of  information  and the  provi 
sion  of  expertise  and  analytical  support.  The  Swedish 

(8)  2001/419/JHA,  Council  decision  of  28  May  2001  on  the  trans 
mission  of  samples  of  controlled  substances,  Brussels,  28  May 
2001. 

and Belgian Presidencies also presented  a joint  initiative 
for a Council decision to extend the  Europol mandate to 
all  forms  of  serious  crimes  listed  in  the  annex  of  the 
Europol  Convention. The  decision  is  expected  to  enter 
into force on  1 January 2002. 

The  May  2000  JHA  Council  agreed  to  create  Eurojust, 
composed  of  prosecutors,  magistrates  or police  officers 
from  each  Member  State.  The  objective  is  to  improve 
the  coordination  of  cross-border  investigations  into seri 
ous  crimes  between  national  prosecuting  authorities, 
notably based on  Europol's analyses. The competencies 
of  Eurojust  relate  to  all  types  of  serious  crime  that  fall 
within  Europol's  mandate.  It  is  envisaged  that  Eurojust, 
like Europol, will  have the right to ask Member  States to 
carry  out  specific  investigations.  In  addition,  Eurojust 
could  request  joint  investigations  to  be  set  up  in  the 
Member  States  and  then  act  as judicial  coordinator. A 
provisional  unit  (Pro-Eurojust)  became  operational  in 
March  2001. In its first three  months,  it dealt  with  100 
cases. 

legislation  and 

International  law-enforcement  and  judicial  cooperation 
is  increasingly  and  constantly  facilitated  by  new  legisla 
tive and policy initiatives  in the Member  States aimed at 
improving their effectiveness and efficiency. At European 
Union  level, several  decisions  by the  European  Council 
and the JHA Council contribute to the  harmonisation  of 
law-enforcement  practices. 
criminal 
These initiatives gradually and inevitably replace informal 
cooperation mechanisms. Obviously, in order to achieve 
the  potential  and  objectives  of  these  legislative  and 
political  initiatives, it is important to  eradicate the inven 
tion  of 'creative solutions to  problems  presented by leg 
islation', requiring changes  in  mentality  and approach of 
law-enforcement  officers  along with  appropriate  aware 
ness programmes. 

Heroin 

Source 

countries 

According  to  the  United  Nations  Commission  on 
Narcotic Drugs, global illicit opium  production was 4 700 
tonnes in 2000, compared with almost 6 000 tonnes in 
1999. Afghanistan and Myanmar account for over 90  % 
of this  amount.  If all of this were converted  into heroin, 
the potential volume would be 470 tonnes. However, as 
large  amounts  of  opium  are  being  consumed  in Asia, 
the volume  of  heroin is estimated  at 400 tonnes. 

favourable  weather  conditions  on  the  one  hand  and 
eradication  and  alternative  development  efforts  on  the 
other.  The  volume  of  production  declined  by  3 0%  to 
3 275  tonnes, almost  70  %  of  the  global total.  Opiates 
seem  to  be  increasingly  trafficked  out  of  Afghanistan  in 
the form of heroin. This suggests that facilities for the pro 
cessing of heroin exist in the country, which  is confirmed 
by  significant  heroin  seizures  in  the  Iranian  province  of 
Khorasan, which  borders Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. 

In  2000,  the  area  of  opium  poppy  cultivation 
in 
Afghanistan  declined  by  some  10%,  due  to  un 

The  ban  on  opium  production  issued  by  the  Taliban 
rulers on 27 July 2000, at the end of the harvest, seems 
to have been implemented. A donor assessment mission 

8 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

market. This may be due to the fact that heroin producers 
in South-East Asia who  also supply the Australian  market 
are gradually transferring their  activities towards the  pro 
duction of methamphetamine for bigger profits  (,0). 

with  representatives  of  Belgium, Canada, Germany,  the 
Netherlands, the  United  Kingdom, the United States, the 
European Commission and UNDCP visited the country in 
2001. The mission  has ascertained almost total eradica 
in  the  principal  opium-producing  provinces  of 
tion 
Helmand,  Kandahar  and  Nangarhar  (9).  Various  factors 
could  affect  the  willingness  of  the  Taliban  to  continue 
with  it and it will  be carefully  monitoring both the cost of 
the  ban and the  credit  it  is receiving from  other  nations 
for  having imposed  it. At least 500  000  Afghan persons 
have lost their  income and another  500  000 face a seri 
ous fall  in  income. Up to  one million  people are in dan 
ger  of  starvation.  The  ban  has  not  had  an  immediate 
impact on prices and availability of heroin in the Member 
States.  This  supports  intelligence  that  considerable 
amounts  of  heroin  processed from the  1999  and  2000 
harvests  have  been  stockpiled  both  in  Afghanistan  and 
neighbouring Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. 

Opium  production  in the  Golden Triangle  of  South-East 
Asia was  1 200  tonnes  in  2000.  Myanmar  is the  main 
producer  in  South-East  Asia  and  accounts  for  approxi 
mately  25  °/o  of  global  opium  production  with  an  esti 
mated  1 087 tonnes, which  equals  100 tonnes of hero 
in.  Most  of  it  is trafficked  through  the  Yunnan  Province 
of  China.  In  2000,  Chinese  law-enforcement  agencies 
seized  6.3  tonnes  of  heroin. The  People's  Democratic 
Republic  of  Laos  is  the  world's  third  largest  producer 
with a yield in 2000 of approximately  10 tonnes of hero 
in.  Heroin from  South-East Asia is primarily  destined for 
consumer  markets  in  the  region.  The  drugs  are  also 
smuggled  into the  United States, Australia and, to a lim 
ited  extent,  to  Europe,  by  couriers  or  via  the  mail  ser 
vices. The  authorities  in Australia  have  recently  noticed 
a  shortage  in  the  supply  of  heroin  to  the  consumer 

(9)  Council  of the  European  Union, Document  9973/01, Cordrogue 
40,  'Situation  report  on  South-West  Asia'  (Report  to  the  Dublin 
Group),  Brussels, 20 June 2001. 

Opium  production 

Almost 60 % of heroin seized in the United States is from 
Colombia. As there  is no opium  consumer  population in 
Latin  America,  almost  all  of  it  is  converted  into  heroin, 
some nine tonnes in 2000, and destined for export. 

Transit 

The  Islamic  Republic of  Iran 

Nearly 70 % of all seizures of heroin and morphine base 
continue to  be made in Asia, 50 °/o of which is seized in 
South-West Asia, notably  in the  Islamic  Republic  of  Iran, 
reflecting the  increasing  use  of  Iranian territory  by drug-
trafficking  organisations  and  the  priority  given  by  the 
Iranian  authorities  to  drug  interdiction.  The  country 
accounts for  80  %  of the total  amount  of  seized opium 
and 90 % of the amount of morphine seized in the entire 
world (10). In 2000,  142 law-enforcement officers died in 
armed clashes with drug traffickers. The Iranian authorities 
seized  six tonnes  of  heroin. Also,  179  tonnes  of  opium 
and 20 tonnes of morphine base were confiscated. There 
are believed to be 350 000 heroin addicts in Iran (' ') and 
1.5  million  opiate  abusers  in  Pakistan.  These  figures 
increasingly  outstrip  the  so-called  consumer  countries  in 
western  Europe in per capita terms  (12). 

(,0)  United Nations International  Narcotics Control Board, 'Report 2000', 

Vienna, 21  February 2001. 

( ")  Fariborz Raisdana, Cultural  Research Bureau, 'Drug market  in Iran', 
speech given at the Conference on Global  Drug Markets, London, 
24-26 June 2001. 

(,2)  United  Nations  Office  for  Drug  Control  and  Crime  Prevention, 

'World drugs  report 2000'. 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

Central Asia 

The  routes  from  Afghanistan  through  the  States  of 
Central  Asia,  Russia,  Ukraine  and  Poland  along the  so-
called 'silk route' to western  Europe, or via the Caucasus 
and Turkey linking up with  the traditional  Balkan routes, 
are becoming increasingly  important. 

A survey of  open  sources by  Europol  identified  73  indi 
vidual  seizures  totalling  1  384 kg  of  heroin  made  in 
2000 
in  Russia,  Georgia,  Kazakhstan,  Kyrgyzstan, 
Tajikistan  and  Uzbekistan.  A  similar  screening  of  open 
sources  in the  period  January/February  2001  indicated 
58  cases  with  a total  of  471.5 kg of  heroin  seized.  In 
most cases, couriers were from Tajikistan. In 2000, hero 
in  seizures  in  Tajikistan  increased  by  4 5 0%  to  1.5 
tonnes  (13),  which  is  more  than  the  amount  seized  in 
any  European  Union  Member  State. This  is  to  a  large 
extent due to the  newly created  Drug Control Agency in 
Tajikistan  and 
the  Russian 
its  cooperation  with 
Federation  Border Forces. 

The actual extent of  drug trafficking through  Central Asia 
is difficult to estimate due to poor interdiction capacities, 
rugged terrain  conditions  and a high  level  of  corruption 
in several  of the  countries.  In addition, Central Asia  is a 
source and transit  region for  chemicals  required for  the 
processing  of  heroin.  In the  first  half  of  2000,  over  22 
tonnes of acetic anhydride were seized in Turkmenistan. 

Turkey 

Turkey  remains the  gateway for  the  trafficking  of  heroin 
along the Balkan routes into the European Union and for 
the  trafficking,  in  the  opposite  direction,  of  chemicals 
used  in  the  processing  of  heroin.  In  2000,  Turkish 
law-enforcement  agencies  seized  6 052 kg  of  heroin 
(3.6  tonnes  in  1999),  2 485 kg of  morphine  base and 
23  tonnes  of  acetic  anhydride.  Some  60 °/o  of  these 
chemicals  were  seized  on  entering Turkey, the  remain 
der  was  found  in  heroin-processing  facilities.  In  2000, 
controlled  deliveries  led  to  seizures  of  1.2  tonnes  of 
heroin.  According  to  the  Turkish  authorities,  the  PKK is 
heavily  involved  in  drug  trafficking  in  the  country  by 
taking  commissions  and  by  consigning  the  drugs  into 
Europe  (,4). 

The  Balkan  routes 

Law-enforcement agencies assess, as has been the case 
in  previous  years, that  at least  80  %  of  heroin  available 
in  Europe  is  transported  across  the  Balkan  routes. 
Countries  in  central  and  eastern  Europe  continue  to  be 

C3)  Document  E/NC.7/2001/2,  Report  of  the  Executive  Director 

UNDCP, Vienna, March 2001. 

(M)  Ministry  of  Interior,  Department  of Anti-smuggling  and  Organised 

Crime, 'Turkish drug report  2000', Ankara, 2001. 

10 

Heroin press 

used  for  the  storage  of  heroin  destined  for  secondary 
distribution towards the  European  Union, in  most cases 
using  private  cars  or  buses.  In  2000,  law-enforcement 
activities  led to  record  seizures  of  2  079.5  kg of  heroin 
in  Bulgaria.  Most  of  it  was  destined  for  the  European 
Union. Other seizures in 2000  include those in Hungary 
of  400  kg  and  of  390  kg  in  Slovenia.  In  Poland  too, 
some  significant seizures of  heroin occurred. 

Increasingly, Albania is being used as a transit country for 
the trafficking of  heroin, notably to  Italy and Greece. 

The European Union 

In  the  European  Union,  heroin  dependency  remains 
broadly  stable.  Known  users  are a largely  ageing popu 
lation  with  serious  health,  social  and  psychiatric  prob 
lems. The appearance of white  heroin from  Central Asia 
is a new  phenomenon  in some  Member  States, partic 
ularly  Finland, Germany and Sweden. 

As  was  the  case  in  previous  years, Turkish  and  ethnic 
Albanian-Yugoslav  criminal  organisations  continue  to 
dominate  the  trafficking  of  heroin  towards  and  within 
the  European Union. 

Germany  is  both  a  destination  and  the  major  transit 
country  in  the  European  Union  for  heroin.  Scores  of 
tonnes  of  heroin  are  believed  to  move  through  the 
country every year on their way to consumer  markets in 
the  Netherlands,  the  United  Kingdom,  France,  the 
Iberian  Peninsula  and  the  Scandinavian  countries.  In 
2000, 796  kg of heroin were seized in the country. Most 
arrested  suspects  were  German  nationals.  Large-scale 
heroin trafficking, however,  is dominated  by Turkish and 
ethnic  Albanian-Yugoslav  criminal  groups.  The  role  of 
Germany  will  probably  be  reinforced  if  the  'silk  route' 
through  Central  Asia,  Russia  and  Poland  develops 
further.  In the  course  of  2000  and  2001, German  law-
enforcement  agencies  already  made  32 
individual 
seizures, totalling 68  kg of high-purity white heroin. In all 
cases,  suspects  were  from  Central  Asia.  This  type  of 
heroin  is believed  to  originate from  illicit  laboratories  in 
Central Asia, presumably  in  Kazakhstan or Kyrgyzstan. 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

Turkish  nationals  or  European  Union  citizens  of  Turkish 
descent  control  the  importation  of  heroin  into  the 
Netherlands.  Large amounts  of  heroin  are  being stored 
in  the  Netherlands  for  secondary  distribution  to  the 
United  Kingdom, France, Belgium  and Germany. 

Most  of  the  heroin  that  is  smuggled  into  the  United 
Kingdom  each  year  comes  via  the  Netherlands  and 
Belgium, sometimes in large shipments of up to 200 kg. 
Turkish criminal groups dominate the trafficking. A few of 
them  maintain  direct  links  with  suppliers  in  Turkey. 
However,  Turkish  criminals  in  the  Netherlands  and 
Belgium  also  play  an  important  role  in  channelling 
heroin  to  the  United  Kingdom.  Sourcing  from  the 
Netherlands enables traffickers to obtain heroin at Dutch 
wholesale  prices,  which  are  significantly  lower  than  in 
the  United Kingdom. British Caucasian traffickers appear 
to  be  increasingly  involved  in  trafficking  heroin.  Some 
obtain their  heroin from Turkish importers  in the  United 
Kingdom,  but  others  have  their  own  contacts  in  the 
Netherlands,  Belgium  or 
in  some  cases  Turkey. 
Provisional  seizure  statistics  in  the  United  Kingdom 
suggest that  1.254  kg of  heroin were seized in 2000. 

In  2000,  law-enforcement  agencies  in  France  seized 
444 kg of heroin, an increase of  118 % when compared 
with the previous year. Most of it was imported from the 
Netherlands and, to a lesser extent, from  Belgium, Spain 
and Switzerland with a significant proportion  in transit to 
other  Member States. 

Increasingly, Turkish criminal groups are setting up bases 
in  Spain  and  Portugal for  the  storage  and further  distri 
bution of heroin. This was confirmed in May 2000, when 
the  Spanish  Central  Drugs  Unit  concluded  an  investiga 
tion  into  a  Turkish-Kurdish  criminal  group  and  arrested 
one of the  most wanted Turkish drug traffickers who, for 
many years, has supplied markets in the European Union 
with large amounts of heroin. At the time of his arrest, he 
was  in  possession  of  Turkish,  Dutch  and  Portuguese 
passports. Earlier, in  1998, his organisation was targeted 
by law-enforcement  agencies in Turkey, the Netherlands, 
Belgium, Germany  and the  United Kingdom. 

In Portugal, 567  kg of heroin were seized in 2000, com 
pared  to  76 kg  in  1999.  This  includes  two  major 
seizures:  one  of  132 kg  in  February  in  a  residence  in 
Fernão  Ferro  that  was  occupied  by  Turkish  nationals, 
with  seven  Turks  and  five  Portuguese  arrested,  plus 
another seizure of 228 kg in Lisbon, in November 2000. 
Some  25 %  of  heroin  of  known  origin  was  imported 
from  Turkey,  the  rest  was  from  secondary  distribution 
from  Spain and the  Netherlands. 

In Greece, 660 kg of heroin were seized in 2000. This is 
mainly  due to  a seizure, in  December  2000, of  526 kg 
of  heroin  in Athens  in  two  buses  coming  from  Turkey, 
following  a  joint  investigation  by  Greek,  Turkish  and 
United  States  police  forces.  The  drugs  were  packed  in 
513  parcels concealed in the air conditioning tubes. The 
investigation  led to  the  arrest  of  the four  bus  drivers  in 
Athens and another  13 suspects in Turkey. 

Cocaine 

Source 

countries 

According  to  the  National  Drug  Intelligence  Centre  of 
the  United  States'  Department  of  Justice,  Colombia 
accounts  for  6 7%  of  cocaine  available  for  world 
wide consumption. Peru and Bolivia are the other signif 
icant  source  countries.  The  potential  availability  of 
cocaine  to  the  world  market  is  estimated  at  some 
800 tonnes. 

in  Colombia 

Potential  cocaine  production 
in  2000 
was  600  tonnes.  In  spite  of  this  high  level, the  share 
of  GDP  has  been  falling, with  drugs  contributing  some 
2.5 %  of  Colombia's  economic  output,  down  from  a 
mid-1980s  high  of  7  %  (,5).  In  2000,  the  Colombian 
Government  adopted  the  'Plan  Colombia:  institutional 
strengthening  and  social  development  2000-02'.  The 

(15)  United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, 'World 

drug report 2000', Vienna. 

plan  contains  a  multisectorial  strategy  to  combat  drug 
manufacture  and trafficking. 

In  Peru, the  area  under  coca  cultivation  has  decreased 
by  70  %  in  comparison  with  the  early  1990s. Cocaine 
production 
is  currently  estimated  at  170  tonnes. 
Cultivation  also  significantly  decreased  in  Bolivia,  as a 
result  of  the  implementation  of  the  'Plan  dignity', 
launched  in  1997, resulting in a potential  conversion  to 
40 tonnes  of cocaine. 

Transit 
Venezuela,  Ecuador,  Argentina,  Suriname,  Brazil  and 
Chile  are all  major transit  countries  for the  trafficking of 
cocaine  to  the  United  States  and  Europe.  Venezuela, 
due to its geographic position adjacent to Colombia and 
the  Caribbean,  is  exploited  by  Colombian  criminal 
groups for  large-scale  cocaine trafficking. The country is 
also a source and transit country for precursors destined 
for  Colombia,  Bolivia and Peru. 

11 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

Seizure of a major shipment  of cocaine  in Amsterdam, the  Netherlands 

Surinam  is  being  used  as a transit  country  for  the  traf 
ficking  of cocaine from Colombia to the European Union, 
in  maritime shipments  or by couriers. Large amounts  of 
cocaine are smuggled into the country by boat or by light 
aircraft, using small airstrips  in the  country's  rugged inte 
rior. In recent years, many couriers, often Dutch nationals 
of  Surinamese  descent,  have  been  arrested  in  the 
Netherlands,  Belgium  and  France.  In August  2000,  the 
Surinamese Government  endorsed a strategic  drug plan 
in order to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement. 

According  to  the  UNDCP  Caribbean  Drug  Control 
Coordination  Mechanism, about  half  of the cocaine leav 
ing South America for the world  markets  moves through 
the  Caribbean, making the  region  a major transit  hub. A 
common  practice  is to  airdrop  drug  consignments  from 
the continent into the Caribbean coastal waters and then 
have them  picked up by speedboat.  Private vessels, fish 
ing boats, cruisers and pleasure ships are also increasing 
ly being used in maritime drug trafficking. Drug traffickers 
continue to take advantage of the fact that the Caribbean 
is  located  between  major  drug-producing  areas and  sig 
nificant illicit drug markets, that the region is comprised of 
hundreds  of  small  islands with  myriads  of  bays and that 
the socioeconomic situation is difficult. The relatively weak 
institutional and political situation in some of the countries 
and the large number of political entities in the Caribbean 
pose challenges to efforts to ensure strategic coordination 
in the fight against illicit drug trafficking (16). 

The European Union 

According to surveys on the consumption of drugs in the 
European  Union, cocaine  use  is rising and spreading to 
a  broader  population. Severe  problems  associated  with 
crack  cocaine  have  been  identified,  particularly  among 
females employed  in the sex industry. 

('^International  Narcotics  Control  Board,  'Report  2000',  Vienna,  21 

February 2001. 

In  2000,  cocaine  seizures  in  the  European  Union,  at 
about  25  tonnes, decreased  by 42  °/o, when  compared 
with  1999. The bulk is trafficked from the Andean region 
via the Caribbean or via South American countries. Large 
amounts  of the  drug are smuggled  in containerised sea 
freight.  However, Germany  and the  Netherlands  report 
ed that  in  2000  most  cocaine  seized  in  their  countries 
was  at  airports,  smuggled  by  couriers  or  in  airfreight. 
German  law-enforcement agencies noticed that relative 
ly large quantities  of  cocaine were found  in the posses 
sion  of  a  comparatively  small  number  of  Colombian 
nationals. 

Colombian  criminal  networks  continue  to  control  the 
supply of cocaine into the European Union and Nigerian 
drug-trafficking  networks  play  an 
increasing  role. 
Increasingly, Albanians  are  involved  in  the  trafficking  of 
cocaine  from  Latin America  to  Europe.  In  some  cases, 
information  has  pointed  to  the  trafficking  of  cocaine  to 
Albania, for  storage  in  depots  awaiting further  distribu 
tion  in the  European Union. 

Intra-European  Union  trafficking  of  cocaine  very  much 
resembles  the  patterns  of  the  cannabis  trafficking. 
Considerable  amounts  of  cocaine  are  en  route  from 
depots  in  Spain  to  other  Member  States,  with  France 
being an important transit country. The Netherlands  is a 
country 
to 
Germany, Belgium  and the  United Kingdom. 

for  secondary  distribution  of  cocaine 

Cocaine trafficking towards the Iberian Peninsula is dom 
inated  by the  Colombian-Galician  connection. Galicia in 
north-west  Spain is a favoured  place for  smaller vessels 
to  land the  cocaine. The area  has long been  associated 
with smuggling, and the decline of the fishing industry in 
recent  decades  has  encouraged  several  Galician  fisher 
men to accept payment for using their vessels to collect 
large  consignments  of  cocaine far  out  into  the  Atlantic. 
Portugal also serves as a port of entry for  large amounts 
of  cocaine  and  as  a  provider  of  small  ships  that  are 
being used to collect the  drugs from  'mother-ships' that 

12 

Seizure of 4.5 tonnes of  cocaine  in the Canary Islands, Spain 

transport  multi-tonne  quantities  from  Latin  America  to 
Europe. 

Spain continues to be one of the main countries of entry 
of cocaine into the  European Union, affected by historic, 
cultural  and  linguistic  factors.  In  2000,  Spanish  law-
enforcement  agencies  seized  six  tonnes  of  cocaine. 
Significantly, many seizures resulted from  lengthy inves 
tigations  and  led  to  the  disruption  of  several  criminal 
groups.  Most  cocaine  was  imported  directly  from 
Colombia.  In  March  2001, the  Central  Drugs  Unit  and 
the  Castillon  police  discovered  two  cocaine  laboratories 
in farms  located  in  a sierra  close  to  the  Mediterranean 
coast and seized hundreds of  litres of chemicals as well 
as equipment  for  the  processing of  cocaine  hydrochlo 
ride. The raid followed the seizure of a tonne of cocaine 
and  16 tonnes of ether, acetone, ammoniac,  potassium 
permanganate  and  hydrochloric  acid  in  January  2001 
and the  arrest of  27  persons. The suspects were  mem 
bers of a criminal group that smuggled coca paste in sea 
containers from Colombia to the port of Barcelona, from 
where the  drugs were transported to the farms. 

In  Portugal,  3 075 kg of  cocaine  were  seized  in  2000, 
compared with 823  kg of cocaine in  1999. Some 30 °/o 
was  imported  directly from  Colombia.  In January 2001, 
one tonne of cocaine was seized in the northern  part of 
the  country  whereas,  in  another  case,  2.5  tonnes  of 
cocaine  were  intercepted,  with  seven  people  arrested, 
near Lisbon. 

Overview of cocaine seizures in the European Union  in 2000 

United Kingdom 
I0W 

Sweden 

Igium 

7 " f t\ 

Denmark 
< I W\ 

Finland 
<i%7 

France 
s tft 

Germany 

Greece 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information Bulletin 

The  Netherlands  is  another  major  country  of  entry  of 
cocaine  into  the  European  Union. The  large trade  vol 
ume  in  Dutch  ports facilitates the  smuggling of  cocaine 
in containerised freight, in addition to the close relation 
ship  with  present  and former  Dutch territories  in  South 
America  and  the  Caribbean.  In  2000,  6 470 kg  of 
cocaine  were  seized. Contrary  to  previous  years, when 
cocaine  was  predominantly  found  in  container  ship 
ments, most cocaine was seized at Schiphol airport, with 
1.8  tonnes  arriving as airfreight  and another  2.5  tonnes 
via  couriers  from  Surinam,  the  Netherlands  Antilles, 
Venezuela, Jamaica, Ecuador and Brazil. Over 700 couri 
ers  were  arrested.  The  country  has  noticed  a  growing 
trend  in  Latin  America,  the  Netherlands  Antilles  and 
Aruba, in the  bartering of  cocaine and ecstasy. 

French  law-enforcement  agencies  seized  1  311 kg  of 
cocaine  in  2000, a decrease  of  6 4%  when  compared 
with  1999.  Most  cocaine  was  imported  directly  from 
Colombia,  part  of  which  was  destined  for  the  French 
market,  with  other  destinations  including  Italy  and  the 
Netherlands. 

HM  Customs  and  Excise  estimate  cocaine  importation 
to the  United  Kingdom at 25-40 tonnes annually. There 
has been some use of container traffic to import cocaine 
in  bulk. The  use  of  feeder  vessels  from  the  near conti 
nent to container ports in southern and eastern England 
is known to take place.  It is estimated, however, that up 
to  three  quarters  of  the  cocaine  imported  into  the 
United  Kingdom from mainland  Europe is carried across 
the  Channel  in  lorries,  private  vehicles  and  by  foot 
passengers.  Historically,  this  has  been  organised  by 
Colombian traffickers  based  in the  country.  Increasingly, 
however,  British  criminal groups, some with  a history of 
cannabis  smuggling  and  some  based  in  Spain,  buy 
cocaine  directly  from  suppliers  in  the  Netherlands, 
Belgium  and Spain, and import  it themselves. 

A  substantial  amount  of  cocaine  is  smuggled  into  the 
United  Kingdom  by air, either  by passengers or through 
baggage and freight. Couriers, who are expendable non-
members  as far  as the trafficking groups are concerned 
and  know  nothing  about  the  group's  general  criminal 
business,  fly  into  all  the  major  international  airports  in 
the  country.  They  arrive  on  flights  directly  from  South 
America  or  the  Caribbean,  but  some  transit  via  the 
United  States,  Spain,  the  Netherlands,  or  via  other 
European  countries,  particularly  Germany,  in  order  to 
deflect suspicion. 

Germany  is a major transit country for cocaine. In 2000, 
913 kg of cocaine were seized. Some 40 % was destined 
for  other  countries,  in  particular  Spain, the  Netherlands, 
Italy and Switzerland. Most cocaine seized in 2000 arrived 
at airports. Germans  dominate  the  trafficking of cocaine, 
followed by Turkish and Sierra Leone nationals. 

13 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information Bulletin 

Synthetic  drugs 

Introduction 

Amphetamine  and  amphetamine  type  stimulants  are, 
next to  cannabis, the  second  most common  illicit drugs 
in the  European  Union. Amphetamine  is generally used 
by  1 to 4  %  of  adults, but  by up to  10 %  in the  United 
Kingdom. The use of amphetamine and ecstasy appears 
to  be stabilising on a high level. 

A  study  supported  by  the  United  States'  National 
Institute  on  Drug Abuse has provided  evidence that the 
chronic  use  of  MDMA  causes  significant  reductions  in 
the  number  of  serotonin  transporters  in  the  human 
brain. The lasting reductions occur throughout the brain. 
The  study  also  found  out  that,  compared  to  the  non-
users, heavy MDMA users had significant impairments in 
visual  and  verbal  memory  (,7).  A  recent  study  by  the 
University  of  Hamburg  came  to  similar  conclusions. 
Since research  is still at an early stage, scientists  cannot 
say  definitively  that  the  harm  to  brain  serotonin  neu 
rones  accounts  for  the  memory  impairments  found 
among chronic  ecstasy users. 

The  European  Union  remains  the  primary  source  of 
amphetamine  and  many  amphetamine-type  sub 
stances.  Trafficking  is  to  a  large  extent  limited  to  the 
European and intra-European  Union  level, which  mainly 
takes  place  overland  and  benefits  from  the  abolition  of 
internal  border  controls. The  exception  is the  trafficking 
of  ecstasy, which  takes  place  on  a global  scale. Recent 
trends  point  to  the  double  use  of  routes  by  criminal 
groups  trafficking  more  than  one  type  of  drug.  This 
involves  the  trading  of  ecstasy  for  heroin  or  metham-
phetamine  in  Europe  and  South-East  Asia  and  for 
cocaine in  North and South America. 

Production  of  amphetamines  and  amphetamine-type 
stimulants  in the  European  Union  is concentrated  in the 
Netherlands, and to  a lesser extent,  Belgium, the  United 
Kingdom,  Spain  and  Germany.  In  2000,  approximately 
10 000  kg of amphetamine  and ecstasy produced in the 
Netherlands  were  seized  in  the  country  or  abroad  (,8). 
The Dutch authorities also dismantled 37 locations where 
production  of  synthetic  drugs  occurred.  In  Belgium,  10 
illicit  laboratories  were  seized.  Authorities  estimate  that 
there is an increase in synthetic drug production, which is 
now gradually spreading all over the country. 

In  recent  years, eastern  Europe  has emerged  as a pro 
ducer  of  synthetic  drugs  destined  for  the  European 

Seized amphetamine  powder 

Union. Illicit laboratories have been dismantled in sever 
al countries  including Poland, Bulgaria, Hungary and the 
Baltic States. In Poland, 14 laboratories were discovered 
in 2000. In Bulgaria, three laboratories were shut down. 

Occasionally,  new  or  relatively  unknown  amphetamine-
type  stimulants  appear  on  the  consumer  markets.  In 
2000 and 2001 this was, for instance, the case for GHB, 
Ketamine  and  PMMA. The  Polish authorities  raided two 

C7)  NIDA  notes,  'Ecstasy  damages  the  brain  and  impairs  memory  in 

humans'  in Research  News,  Vol.  14,  No  4,  1999. 

C8)  This  includes  some  27.5  million  seized  ecstasy tablets  after  conver 

10  11  12  13  14  15  16  17  18  19  20  21  22  23  24  25 

' 

:/r/f/////f/ffr'y//f'ff/j«ji'/jTfi/irii/iijr/rffrL/fiiiJiitrf  riff fini JimJii iilim linai un lui) I IT)« 1iiiiltuiliiiilimliTnliitiltvitli^ii\iiiii\t«t\ttiil%%\t\i 

sion  into  kilos. 

Flasks  with  GHB 

14 

illicit  laboratories  in  December  2000,  which  produced 
PMA and PMMA for consumer  markets in the  European 
Union. 

Precursors 

The  diversion  of  precursors  from  licit trade, either  from 
international  trade  or  from  domestic  manufacture  and 
distribution  channels  remains the  main  means  used by 
criminal  organisations to  obtain the  chemicals  that they 
need  for  the  illicit  manufacture  of  drugs.  In  some 
instances,  criminals  have  formed  front  companies  to 
carry  out  a  degree  of  licit  business  in  precursors.  The 
amounts  of  controlled  chemicals  ordered  in  excess  of 
the  licit requirements  of the  company are subsequently 
diverted  into  illicit drug manufacture. 

China plays a prominent  role in the supply of precursors 
for synthetic drugs. In Belgium, for instance,  14 800 litres 
of PMK from China were seized in five incidents in 2000. 
In almost all cases, the chemicals were destined for the 
Netherlands.  In  November  2000,  Customs  at  Frankfurt 
Airport  seized  400  kg  of  PMK  that  had  arrived  from 
China.  These  seized  quantities  of  PMK  plus  another 
6.7  tonnes  and  other  chemicals  seized  in  the  Nether 
lands in 2000 would have allowed for the production of 
18 000 kg of  MDMA, which  equates to almost 280  mil 
lion  ecstasy tablets. 

Last year,  92 650  litres  of  chemical  waste were  discov 
ered  in  the  Netherlands  in  101  incidents  of  illegal  dis 
posal. The waste  has  probably  come  from  the  produc 
tion  of  more  than  70  million  tablets.  In addition, intelli 
gence  suggests  that  criminal  groups  dispose  of  large 
amounts of chemical waste via the drains. These figures 
present a more  realistic picture of the immense volume 
of  ecstasy  production  in  the  Netherlands  than  simple 
data  on seized tablets  or variations  in street prices. 

Amphetamine 

In  2000,  law-enforcement  agencies  in  the  European 
Union  seized  1  715 kg  of  amphetamine.  The  Nether-

Toxic waste, dumped  in the  Netherlands 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

Illegal  production site 

lands,  the  United  Kingdom  and  Germany  continue  to 
report  the  highest  number  of  illicit  amphetamine  labo 
ratories.  Most  amphetamine  seized  in  the  European 
Union  is  produced  in these  Member  States. The  drugs 
are subsequently  distributed  overland  across the  entire 
territory  of  the  European  Union.  Quantities  of  up  to 
30 kg are smuggled to the Nordic Member States by car, 
whereas  the  larger  quantities  of  100  kg  or  more  are 
transported  in  lorries.  In  the  United  Kingdom,  for 
instance,  single  seizures  of  350,  200  and  135 kg  of 
amphetamine from  Belgium  occurred in 2000. 

Most amphetamine  used in Sweden is manufactured in 
the  Netherlands,  Belgium  and  Poland  and, to  a  lesser 
extent, in the Czech Republic. Poland accounts for 70  % 
of  amphetamine  seizures.  The  drugs  are  smuggled 
under  the  control  of  Polish  criminal  groups.  In  2000, 
amphetamine  seizures  from  Estonia  and  Lithuania 
increased. This  is facilitated  by  the  growing  number  of 
illicit laboratories  in those countries and the  recruitment 
by criminal  organisations  of  professional  chemists, who 
produce  large  quantities  of  high-purity  amphetamine. 
Last year,  five  large-scale  production  facilities  were  dis 
covered  in  Estonia. In Lithuania, four  amphetamine  lab 
oratories were seized in  2000. According to the  Finnish 
Central Police's Criminal Investigation Division, hundreds 
of  kilos  of  amphetamine  are  being  shipped  from  the 
Baltic States across the Gulf  of  Finland every year. 

Most  amphetamine  seized  in  Germany  has  been  pro 
duced  in the  Netherlands  and  is in transit to  Denmark, 
Sweden and Norway, with Germans dominating the traf 
ficking.  The  proximity  to  industrial  laboratories  in  the 
Netherlands may be the reason for the limited discovery 
of  illicit  laboratories  in  Germany.  Last year,  seven facili 
ties for  the  production  of  amphetamine,  most  of  them 
of the 'kitchen' type, were seized. 

Some  10-20  %  of  amphetamine  for the  British  market 
is  produced  in  the  country;  the  remainder  is  imported 
from  Belgium  and  the  Netherlands.  British,  Dutch  and 
Belgian  groups  control  the  importation  and  wholesale 

15 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information Bulletin 

distribution  with  the  Channel  ports,  in  particular  Dover, 
and east coast ports being the obvious  routes for  impor 
tation. The trend of  large  poly-drug shipments that have 
included  up  to  100  kg  of  amphetamine  continued  in 
2000. 

In Greece, the Financial and Economic Crime Office dis 
covered  one  of  the  largest  synthetic  drug  laboratories 
ever found  in  Europe. This was the  result of  an investi 
gation into a pharmaceutical  company that  had ordered 
chemicals  unsuitable  for  its  legitimate  production 
process.  Four  suspects,  including  a  Bulgarian  chemist, 
were arrested. 

Ecstasy 

The substantial upward trend in seizure levels continued 
in  2000  with  17.4  million  ecstasy tablets  seized  in  the 
Member  States  of  the  European  Union, an  increase  of 
almost  50  °/o  when  compared  to  1999.  Significant 
increases  were  observed  in  Austria,  Finland,  Greece, 
Ireland,  Italy,  the  Netherlands,  Spain,  Sweden  and  the 
United Kingdom. 

'Ecstasy'  pill logo  E with  PMA 

'Ecstasy' pill logo Mitsubishi with PMA 

The  European  Union  is  considered  to  be  the  primary 
source of the world's supply of ecstasy with  illicit labora 
tories  in  the  Netherlands  and  Belgium  now  producing 
up to 80  % of the MDMA consumed worldwide  (19). In 
addition, Germany, Spain and the  United  Kingdom  have 
reported the  detection  of ecstasy  laboratories.  Low pro 
duction  costs  and  high  market  prices  lead to  consider 
able  profits, thus  attracting  organised  crime.  Production 
of  ecstasy  is  not  reported  to  have  spread  to  eastern 
Europe  to  a  great  extent,  with  only  Poland,  Bulgaria, 
Estonia  and  Ukraine  having  reported  the  discovery  of 
laboratories or locations for the tabletting of  powder. 

Criminals are constantly adapting their production meth 
ods to suit their requirements. The 'use of the production 
process  known  as  the  Leuckart  synthesis  is  being 
increasingly  abandoned  and  replaced  by  the  reductive 
animation  and the  'cryogen' or  'cold  method'  in  which 
freezers  are  used.  This  method  produces  significantly 

(,9)  National  Drug  Intelligence  Center,  United  States  Department  of 
Justice, 'National  drug threat  assessment  2001 : the  domestic  per 
spective', Washington, October 2000. 

16 

Illegal laboratory at Müncheberg, Germany 

less chemical  waste, thereby  diminishing the risk of dis 
covery in disposal. 

In 2000, 5.5  million  ecstasy tablets and 632  kg of pow 
der,  which  equates  to  some  six  million  tablets,  were 
seized  in the  Netherlands  in  125  incidents. Another  16 
million tablets produced  in the  Netherlands were seized 
in  35  other  countries.  Most  seizures  occurred  in  the 
United States, the United Kingdom, France, Australia and 
Germany.  In  2000,  Dutch  law-enforcement  agencies 
dismantled  34  locations  where  production  of  ecstasy 
occurred. 

In the  United  Kingdom, 4.9  million  tablets  were  seized 
in  2000. This  includes  a seizure  of  50 kg of  ecstasy  in 
Oxford aboard a Dutch light aircraft. Further investigation 
found that the plane had made 25  previous flights from 
the  Netherlands  to  the  United  Kingdom.  A  study  has 
suggested that two million ecstasy tablets are consumed 
each  week.  The  Netherlands  is  the  major  source  of 
ecstasy,  though  it  is  also  supplied  from  elsewhere  in 
Europe, including Belgium, France, and Spain, as well as 
being produced  in the  country  itself. 

Belgium  also  plays an  important  role  in the  production 
of ecstasy, albeit that in many cases a relation has been 
established  with  Dutch  producers.  Law-enforcement 
agencies  reported  the  dismantling  of  eight  production 
sites  last  year.  In  one  of  these  laboratories,  in  Maas-
mechelen,  450 000  ecstasy tablets  with  the  Mitsubishi 

Ecstasy development 
European Union annual seizures in tablets 

Chateau de  Bordchamp 

logo were discovered. Various seizures of ecstasy tablets 
from  Belgium occurred in 2000, including in Vancouver, 
In  May  2001, the  Federal  Police 
Tokyo  and  Istanbul. 
raided  an  illicit synthetic  drug laboratory  that was  locat 
ed  in  the  Chateau  de  Bordchamp,  a  castle  in  the 
Ardennes.  Chemicals  seized  in  the  castle  would  have 
allowed  for  the  production  of  500 kg  of  MDMA. 
Equipment  for  indoor  cannabis  cultivation  was  also 
seized from within the  castle cellars. 

Germany  has  meanwhile  developed  into  one  of  the 
in  Europe.  Last  year, 
biggest  consumer  markets 
1 634 683  ecstasy tablets were seized, with some 86 °/o 
originating  in  the  Netherlands.  In  April  2001, following 
an  investigation  by  the  Police  of  Oranienburg,  the 
biggest  illicit  laboratory  ever  found  in  the  country  was 

1DMA production with the 'cold method' 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

raided  in  Müncheberg.  Four suspects, two  German and 
two  Dutch,  were  arrested.  In  addition  to  laboratory 
equipment,  100 kg of  MDMA  powder,  50 kg of  MDMA-
base, 75 000 ecstasy tablets and chemicals were seized. 
The laboratory was set up by Dutch nationals at a distant 
location.  Most  powder  was  to  be  taken  to  the 
Netherlands for tabletting purposes. 

Swedish  seizures  of  ecstasy  continue  to  increase  and 
more than  doubled  in  2000  when  compared  to  1999, 
with most of it manufactured in the Netherlands. Ecstasy 
is  smuggled  into  Sweden  by  cars  and  lorries  and  by 
couriers  travelling  by  train.  Sweden  is  also  a  transit 
country for the smuggling of ecstasy to the United States 
and Canada. 

Global  dimension  of  ecstasy  trafficking 

Trafficking  of  ecstasy  produced  in  the  European  Union 
has  reached  a  global  dimension.  Huge  amounts  of 
tablets  are  being  smuggled  from  major  European  air 
ports  such  as  Amsterdam,  Brussels,  Frankfurt,  Madrid, 
Paris and Zurich to  various world  destinations,  in partic 
ular to  North America, South Africa, Asia, Indonesia  and 
Australia. Such global  trafficking  is causing considerable 
worldwide  political  and  law-enforcement  concern  with 
increasing  pressure  on  the  European  Union  to  combat 
this  phenomenon. 

In  2000,  9.3  million  ecstasy  tablets  were  seized  in  the 
United States, compared with 3.5  million tablets in  1999. 
Wholesale  prices  are  between  USD  1-2  per tablet  and 
street prices between  USD 34-40. The greatest number 
of ecstasy users fall into the  18-25 year old category with 
slightly greater than  1.4  million people  reporting its use. 

Israeli  organised  crime  groups  in  the  United  States, 
some  composed  of  Russian  emigrants  associated  with 
Russian organised crime groups, control the  importation 
of  ecstasy  into  the  country,  using  commercial  airlines, 
couriers  and  the  mail  system.  They  have  forged  rela 
tionships  with  producers  and  traffickers  in  western 
Europe, particularly in the  Netherlands, and gained con 
trol  over  a  significant  share  of  the  European  market. 
They  recruit  and  utilise  Americans,  Israeli  and  western 
European nationals. These couriers can smuggle  10 000 
to  20 000  tablets  on  their  person  and  up  to  50 000 
tablets  in  specially  designed  luggage  (20).  The  Dutch 
Unit  Synthetic  Drugs has also identified  a central  role of 
Israeli  criminal  groups,  both  in  the  Netherlands  and  in 
neighbouring  countries,  in the  transportation  of  ecstasy 
from  Europe to the  United States. 

(20)  John Andrejko, Special agent  in charge, Atlanta  Field Division, Drug 
Enforcement  Administration,  DEA Congressional  testimony  before 
the  Criminal  Justice,  Drug  Policy  and  Human  Resources 
Subcommittee, Washington, 18  September 2000. 

17 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

In  2000  and  2001,  couriers  from  Europe  also  used 
diverse  routes  to  the  United  States  via  the  Dominican 
Republic, Puerto Rico and Curaçao in the Caribbean and 
Surinam in South America. In 2000, nine seizures of up 
to 25  000  ecstasy tablets destined for the United States 
took  place in  Puerto  Rico and another  six in Curaçao. In 
June 2000,  10 seizures occurred in the United States, in 
which ecstasy was smuggled from Europe via these tran 
sit  countries.  In  June  2001,  an  investigation  by  law-
enforcement agencies in the  United States and Surinam 
resulted  in the  arrests, in  Miami  and  Paramaribo, of  26 
alleged  members  of  a criminal  organisation that  is sus 
pected  of  having  imported, in  less than  seven  months, 
1.3  million ecstasy tablets into the United States. In addi 
tion,  Mexican  drug-trafficking  groups  are  becoming 
involved in the trafficking of ecstasy to the United States, 
exchanging cocaine from  Latin America for  ecstasy from 
Europe. 

In Latin America, particularly Colombia, there is a growing 
market for  ecstasy. In 2000, some  25  seizures occurred 
in Latin America and in several cases the drugs originated 
in the Netherlands. In April 2001, three Colombians were 
arrested in Bogotá for their involvement in the importation 
and distribution of  12 000 ecstasy tablets. In May 2001, a 
Dutch  citizen  was  arrested  at  Schiphol  Airport,  Amster 
dam, for the possession of 7  181 tablets. He intended to 
leave for  Barranquilla, Colombia, via London. 

The  Australian  Federal  Police  made  huge  seizures  of 
ecstasy  tablets  in  2000.  Following  a  Dutch-Australian 
investigation,  which  led  to  substantial  seizures  and 
arrests in the  Netherlands, 271  000 tablets were seized 
in Sydney in a sea container with wine from  France. The 
largest seizure  ever  in Australia, however,  was  made  in 
March  2001  when  two  ethnic  Chinese  people  were 
arrested and over 500 000  ecstasy tablets plus  15 kg of 
heroin were seized in a warehouse  in  Sydney. The con 
signment  was  concealed  in  a  container  with  tinned 
pineapple  which  had  arrived  from  the  Chinese  port  of 
Huangpu. 

Remarkably,  in  some  cases where  ecstasy  tablets  have 
been  imported  into  Australia, they  have  been  crushed 

back  into  powdered  form  and  then  cut  further,  before 
being  re-tabletted. This  is due to  the  fact that the  origi 
nal  active  ingredient  is  considered  to  be  too  high  for 
Australian consumers. 

In Japan, law-enforcement  agencies seized over 80 000 
tablets  in  2000, a  500  %  increase  when  compared  to 
1999.  The  tablets  are  being  smuggled  from  European 
Union  Member  States  either  by  courier  or  in  mail.  In 
March  2000,  a  Dutchman  was  arrested,  and  14 960 
tablets  seized, at  Nagiya  International  Airport, Tokyo. In 
September  2000, a French national was arrested  at the 
same airport, in possession of  25  383  ecstasy tablets. 

Customs  at  the  Chek  Lap  Kok  airport  of  Hong  Kong 
seized 61 000 ecstasy tablets hidden  inside the tanks of 
two  water  heaters.  Suspicions  arose  when  the  heaters 
were  far  heavier  than  their  declared  weight.  The  drugs 
had  been sent from  the  Netherlands  and repackaged in 
Indonesia. Two Indonesian suspects were arrested when 
claiming the  heaters  at an  air-forwarding  agent  in  Hong 
Kong. Earlier, in June, a Dutch ethnic Chinese person was 
arrested in  Hong Kong with 320  000  ecstasy tablets. 

As the  manufacture  of  ecstasy  is  relatively  simple  and 
illicit  synthetic  drugs  laboratories  already  exist  in  the 
United  States, it is likely that  production  may emerge in 
that country as a result of the increase in knowledge and 
domestic  demand.  A  similar  development  can  be 
expected  in  South-East Asia. Last year,  10 ecstasy labo 
ratories were  discovered  in  Malaysia, nine  in China  and 
three in Indonesia. It will only be a matter of time before 
methamphetamine producers in the Golden Triangle will 
shift or expand their activities to the  production of ecsta 
sy. In  recent  years, ecstasy  laboratories  have  also  been 
detected  in Australia  and South Africa. 

The  continuous  large  seizures  of  amphetamine  and 
ecstasy  in  the  European  Union  and  beyond  point  to  a 
constant supply and high availability. Combined with the 
increasing  production  of  amphetamine  in  central  and 
eastern  Europe  and the  manufacture  of  methampheta 
mine  in  Asia  and  America,  synthetic  drugs  are  likely  to 
become the  main  global  drug problem  of this decade. 

Cannabis 

Source countries  and transit  regions 

Morocco  is the  main source of  cannabis  resin  destined 
for the  European  Union. Transportation  is made  by sea 
to  Spain, significantly  in  small  craft  to  the  area  of  the 
Costa  del  Sol or in commercial  vessels to  ports such as 
Algeciras  and  Almería,  and  then  overland  in  lorries  or 
vans.  Consignments  are  also  transported  directly  to 
the  Member  States,  using  ships  and  pleasure  craft. 

Alternative trafficking routes for Moroccan cannabis resin 
include 
transportation  via  Algeria  and  Senegal. 
Afghanistan  and  Pakistan  are  other  major  sources  of 
cannabis  resin to the  European Union. 

Herbal cannabis is supplied to the Member States mainly 
from  Colombia,  Jamaica,  South  Africa  and  Nigeria  with 
South  Africa  currently  Africa's  largest  producer.  Herbal 
cannabis  from  these  major  sources  largely  arrives  in 

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EUROPOL ·  Drugs Information  Bulletin 

by  Portugal  and  Spain  plus  a  substantial  increase  in 
Germany  indicate  a  continued  high  level  of  trafficking. 
This is not reflected in seizures throughout the European 
Union,  with  marked  decreases  in  Belgium,  Denmark, 
France, Ireland, Italy and the  Netherlands. 

It  is  estimated  that  over  600  tonnes  of  cannabis  resin 
seized in Europe in 2000 were smuggled from Morocco. 
Moroccan authorities seized 80 tonnes of cannabis resin 
destined for  Europe and arrested over  100 traffickers  of 
different  nationalities.  Traffickers  arrested  are  mainly 
Europeans  acting under  the  control  of  criminals  groups 
based  in  Spain, the  Netherlands,  the  United  Kingdom, 
France, Belgium  and Italy. 

Spain, seizing over 474 tonnes in 2000, is the European 
Union  hub  for  the  trafficking  of  Moroccan  cannabis. 
France,  also  due  to  geographic  positioning,  acts  as  a 
transit  country  for  Moroccan  cannabis  imported  directly 
by  sea,  via  Algeria  or  over 
land  via  Spain.  The 
Netherlands  is  a  major  importer  and  storage  point  for 
further  cannabis  distribution  to  other  Member  States 
such  as  Germany,  Sweden,  the  United  Kingdom  and 
Denmark.  Residents  from  several  Member  States  have 
set up bases in the  Netherlands to facilitate distribution. 
In  2000,  Dutch  law-enforcement  agencies  seized  29 
tonnes  of  cannabis  resin  and  10  tonnes  of  herbal 
cannabis,  a  combined  decrease  of  about  65  %  when 
compared  with  1999.  Cannabis  resin  was  imported 
mainly from  Morocco  and  Pakistan and herbal cannabis 
mainly from Jamaica. 

In  2000,  Morocco  was  again  the  dominant  country  of 
origin  of  cannabis  seized  in  Sweden. The drugs  mainly 

Cannabis cultivation 

Europe by sea freight. With a view to future developments 
it is interesting to  note the  increasing trafficking and culti 
vation activities of other African nations such as Tanzania, 
Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda. 

Albania  has  developed  into  a  major  source  country  for 
herbal  cannabis, which  is illicitly grown  over  large areas. 
Until  recently,  most  of  it  was  destined  for  Greece  and 
Italy. However, seizures of  herbal cannabis from Albania 
also  occur  in  Austria,  France, the  United  Kingdom  and 
Germany. 

The  largest  areas  under  wild  growth  are  in  the 
Commonwealth  of  Independent  States  (CIS),  notably 
the  Russian  Federation  (a  million  hectares)  and 
Kazakhstan  (about  400 000  hectares).  In  Kazakhstan, 
only a minute part of this appears to have been used for 
actual  cannabis  cultivation  and  export. Thus, in  spite  of 
its  potential  as  a  cannabis-producing  country, 
Kazakhstan  lags  behind  countries  such  as  Morocco, 
Colombia  or  Mexico  (21). 

The  European  Union 

The  European  Union  is  a  major  consumer  market  for 
cannabis and the demand, whether for 'home-grown' or 
imported  varieties, shows  no  signs of waning. Cannabis 
remains  the  most  commonly  used  drug  across  the 
European  Union. Lifetime experience  in the adult popu 
lation rages from  10 °/o in Finland to  18 °/o in the  Nether 
lands, 22 %  in  Spain, 25 °/o in the  United  Kingdom  and 
30  %  in  Denmark.  Continuing  rises  in  countries  with 
previously  lower  levels and stabilisation  in  higher-preva 
lence  countries  confirm  the  tendency  towards  conver 
gence of use. 

The  European  Union  accounts  for  over  75  °/o  of  the 
global seizure volume of cannabis resin. Record seizures 

(21)  United Nations Office for Drug Control and Crime Prevention, 'World 

drug report 2000', Vienna, 2000. 

Cannabis seizure 

19 

EUROPOL ·  Drugs  Information  Bulletin 

Cannabis seizure 

come  from  depots  in  Spain  and  the  Netherlands, 
although  the  role  of  the  latter  country  has  apparently 
decreased.  Trafficking  is  largely  organised  by  Swedes 
with  permanent  residence  in Spain, where they  cooper 
ate  with  Moroccan  suppliers,  and  the  Netherlands. 
Swedish  authorities  have  noticed  an  increase  in 
cannabis  trafficking from  Spain by criminal  groups from 
central  and eastern  Europe that  have established  bases 
there.  Most  cannabis  resin  seized  in  Denmark  is  traf 
ficked  from  Spain  and the  Netherlands.  Danish  citizens 
residing  in  Spain  have  established  good  contacts  with 
international  cannabis trafficking networks. 

Large-scale herbal cannabis trafficking to Greece is domi 
nated  by Albanian  criminal  influence  and  over  85  %  of 
the  herbal  cannabis  seized  by  the  Greek  authorities  in 
2000  originated  in  that  country  and  arrived  over  land. 
Most of  it is smuggled  by Albanians  on  mules  or  horses 
across  the  mountainous  Albanian-Greek  border  where 
the  drugs are left to  be picked  up  by Greek accomplices 
or illegal Albanian emigrants, or otherwise taken by speed 
boat from Albania to the cost of Corfu or Igoumenitsa. 

Cannabis  cultivation 

There  appears  to  be  a  notable  increase  in  cannabis 
cultivation  within  the  European  Union.  Indications  are 
that  organised  crime  is  becoming  increasingly  involved 
in hydroponic cannabis cultivation with instances of both 
ecstasy  production  and  cannabis  cultivation  being 
undertaken  by the  same group. 

In the  Netherlands, there are estimates that over  half of 
the available cannabis is cultivated domestically. In mon 
etary  terms,  domestic  cannabis  sales  and  exports 
exceed  imports  as  hydroponic,  indoor  grown  cannabis 
has a higher THC level, thus commanding a higher price. 
Several criminal  organisations  control  networks  of  small 
and medium-size  nurseries. In 2000, 661  851  cannabis 

20 

plants  were  seized. Also,  1 372  locations  for  the  grow 
ing of cannabis were discovered. 

In  Belgium,  the  number  of  cases  of  homegrown 
cannabis  increased by 400  %  over the  last three years. 
The  Federal  Police  believe that  cannabis  cultivation  will 
further increase in the coming years, with Dutch criminal 
networks  controlling  the  process.  An  example  of  this 
development was witnessed in September  2000, when 
a professional  nursery  in  Henegouwen  was dismantled. 
That year, a total of  13 459  cannabis plants were seized 
in 442  incidents. 

O 

o 
o 
co 

n 

The  trend  of  the  domestic  cultivation  of  cannabis  in 
Sweden to take on a more 'industrial' character has con 
tinued.  The  number  of  cultivation  sites  discovered  was 
45. Seized plants, however, contained low levels of THC. 
Currently, a Swedish farmer who plans to grow cannabis 
with  European  Union  funding  and  under  European 
Union  directives  is  challenging  Swedish  legislation  that 
limits  cannabis  cultivation  to  scientific  purposes  with a 
licence of the Agency for  Medical  Products. 

Cannabis seizure 

E U RO 

'* 
f 

Serious  Crime 
Department 
Drugs  Unit 

Raamweg 47 
PO Box  90850 
2509  LW The Hague 
Netherlands 

Tel. (31-70)  302  50  00 
(switchboard) 
Fax (31-70)  345  58  96 
E-mail:  lnfo@europol.eu.int