The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) published its yearly report on cocaine consumption, based on testing wastewater from about 90 cities and towns in Europe. Some major cities did not take part in the study, though.
The reportThe report found that Antwerp, a city in Belgium, has the highest cocaine consumption in Europe. It also noted that the Czech Republic and Slovakia are leading in methamphetamine consumption, but this is changing slowly.
The study also compared cocaine residues in cities outside the European Union, including the United States and Brazil. vital port Scientists measured the amount of cocaine in the sewage system to estimate how much the population is using, in milligrams per 1,000 inhabitants per day (mg/1000p/day). The study only measures drugs that have been consumed, not those that were disposed of. Researchers take samples from the sewage system and look for the substances produced after drug use. The report discusses the increasing prevalence of cocaine and methamphetamine outside major European cities and new data from non-EU cities.
Differences in drug residues between urban and non-urban areas in Europe no longer exist, indicating that cocaine is now widely available across the continent.
Record coca cultivation and cocaine production in countries that supply cocaine have caused this expansion.
Colombia, the largest cocaine producer, seized more cocaine in 2023 than in 2022. Peru saw a drop in cocaine seizures but an increase in cocaine base, and Bolivia saw a rise in seizures.
The Colombian government announced that it would reduce eradication efforts, which is likely to lead to more coca cultivation this year.
Europe's usual entry points for cocaine — Belgium, the Netherlands, and Spain — all increased their seizures. Sweden and Russia, countries not known for cocaine, had large single seizures, and Norway made its biggest-ever cocaine seizure.
The study also discovered that the amount of cocaine residue has doubled since 2011 in the seven cities that have been part of the research each year.
Since 2011, the amount of cocaine residue in Antwerp (Belgium), Zagreb (Croatia), Milan (Italy), Eindhoven and Utrecht (the Netherlands), and Castellón and Santiago (Spain) increased from 341 mg/1,000p/day to 747 mg/1,000p/day in 2023. Last year, the rate in these cities was slightly higher, at 800 mg/1,000p/day.
The rise in consumption is “definitely linked to the increased availability [in Europe] and the increased production of cocaine in South America,” Matias said.
The Spread of Methamphetamine
GameChangers 2023: The Cocaine Flash-to-Bang in 2024
The study also found that methamphetamine use has expanded into new areas of the continent, while seizures of the drug in Latin America and Europe have made headlines.
“Methamphetamine use, generally low and historically concentrated in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, now seems to be present also in Belgium, Cyprus, the east of Germany, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, and several northern European countries,” the report said. However, overall, the study found that the amount of methamphetamine consumed remained stable.
“One of the highlights of last year’s report was that we were seeing an increase in methamphetamine use across most of Europe,” said Matias. “This year we found use in many countries, but we didn’t see the same increase in use we saw in the previous years.” Methamphetamine, asynthetic drug
, has traditionally been supplied to the European market by local actors, including in the consumption heartlands of the Czech Republic and Slovakia.
However, in 2019, multiple
of Mexican or other Latin American methamphetamine cooks in the Netherlands and Belgium suggested that the “Mexican method” — the production of methamphetamine used in Mexico which produces a high-quality drug — was being learned by European producers. Since 2019, there have been no other arrests, implying that a transfer of knowledge has taken place.
The vast majority of methamphetamine production in Mexico usually takes place in the
northwestern state of Sinaloa
, and is then trafficked to the United States. Significant amounts of methamphetamine have
arrived to European shores recently
South America’s Cocaine Supply Boom Shows Up in European Wastewater Analysis
, though the majority was intended for onward travel. In February 2024, Ireland made its largest-ever methamphetamine seizure of 546 kilograms, worth some $35 million. The drugs had come from Mexico and were on their way to Australia, police said. The shipment was traced back to theSinaloa Cartel
At the beginning of September, Mexican authorities discovered 20 tons of suspected methamphetamine aboard a ship in Veracruz, on Mexico’s Atlantic coast, arrests to a press release. The ship was headed for Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Non-EU Cities Compete with European Cocaine Habits For the first time, the EMCDDA report included wastewater results from non-European Union cities. Cities in the United States, Switzerland, and Brazil “show similar levels of use as the cities in Europe with the highest loads,” found the report.Seattle in the United States recorded a daily mean of 647 mg/1,000p, while Geneva in Switzerland recorded 812mg/1,000p. The northeastern Brazilian city of Recife had a daily mean of 670 mg/1,000p. These findings are similar to those from European cities like Utrecht (744), Paris (616), and Barcelona (619), but still much lower than the top cities like Antwerp (1,722), which had the highest consumption among all the cities involved, or Amsterdam (1,210).Although cocaine use is widespread in many parts of the world, Oceania seems to have largely avoided it, as indicated by residue analysis. The average daily consumption of 102 mg per 1,000 people across 55 sites in Australia suggests a scarcity of the drug, giving criminal groups ample incentive to continue, and potentially expand, their efforts to smuggle cocaine into this unexplored market.
efforts to smuggle cocaine to this untapped market..
Featured image: Lines of cocaine. Credit: EuroNews Health according According to a study of wastewater, cocaine originating from South America is now being used in smaller towns as well as major cities in Europe.
The latest annual report from the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), published on March 20, examines drug residues to estimate cocaine consumption in European cities. This year, the report analyzed data from approximately 90 cities and towns, but some major cities like London, Madrid, and Berlin did not take part.
For the first time, the EMCDDA report included wastewater results from non-European Union cities. Cities in the United States, Switzerland, and Brazil “show similar levels of use as the cities in Europe with the highest loads,” found the report.
Seattle in the United States recorded a daily mean of 647 mg/1,000p, while Geneva in Switzerland recorded 812mg/1,000p. The northeastern Brazilian city of Recife had a daily mean of 670 mg/1,000p.
These results are around the same as European cities like Utrecht (744), Paris (616), and Barcelona (619), but still far below the big hitters like Antwerp (1,722), the highest of all participant cities by a distance, or Amsterdam (1,210).
While cocaine consumption may be entrenched in many regions of the world, Oceania remains relatively untouched, according to residue findings. The daily mean of 102 mg/1,000p across Australia’s 55 sites suggests a dearth of the drug, and provides plenty of reasons for organized crime groups to continue, and perhaps even increase, their attempts to move cocaine to this untapped market.
Featured image: Lines of cocaine. Credit: EuroNews Health