Stable cocaine levels in Europe defy interdiction

Subject

Cocaine trafficking into Europe.

Significance

Europe vies with North America as the largest consumer market for cocaine. Despite efforts to stem the flow of cocaine, seizures in Europe have remained relatively stable since 2010. Instead, interdiction has led to shifting routes and more imaginative ways of bringing illicit drugs into the region.

Impacts

• The supply-side focus of international drug control tends to push cultivation and trafficking into new, often more vulnerable, areas.
• Proceeds from trafficking are such that rising transport costs are not an inhibiting factor.
• Drug trafficking is often displaced to countries where governance is weak, such as in West Africa.
• Drug traffickers bring increased levels of corruption, which further undermines regional authorities.