Europe is not capable of snorting all the cocaine that Colombia produces. Police sources warn of the “worrying” overproduction of this drug. Spain is on its way to breaking another annual record for seizures of this narcotic: with just over a fortnight left until the end of the year, the Security Forces and Corps have already seized 20,000 kilos more than in 2022, when the statistics were already skyrocketing. And there is still the —white— Christmas, a period in which attempts by criminal organizations to transport caches from the other side of the pond intensify. An oversupply that has caused a kilogram of cocaine to go from 33,000 euros to around 18,000 euros.
The recent double operation carried out by the National Police, in which 11 tons of cocaine were seized in Galicia and Valencia that were going to be distributed throughout Europe, highlights the enormous quantities that the mafias are trying to introduce into the continent. coming mainly from Colombia, which remains the world’s main producer of coca leaf, the raw material. At the end of 2021, the total crop area went from 143,000 hectares to 204,000 hectares.
The Drug and Organized Crime Unit (UDyCO) of the National Police understands that behind this overproduction is, in addition to the increase in hectares, the prohibition in Colombia of aerial fumigation with glyphosate against illicit coca leaf crops. A measure imposed by the Colombian Government to address the loss of plant cover due to the impact of the chemical and the alteration it produces in the life cycle of the local fauna. The Council of State of Colombia understood that fumigation is not proportional; Although the goal is to eradicate illicit crops, it was not done in the most appropriate way because it affects the environment.
Sources from the same unit explain that the destruction of these crops is now done manually, which takes much more time; which is used by the mafias to remove the plant from the country. Furthermore, the people who are in charge of eradicating the plantations put their lives at great risk, warn the same police sources, because criminal organizations also plant mines on the land, which have caused serious mutilations in recent times. These factors would explain the overproduction of cocaine that has not gone unnoticed by European mafias.
There are the Balkan organizations, especially the Albanian mafia, who have seen a brilliant business niche, which is why they have become the largest exporters of huge quantities directly from Latin America. Although in Spain, the Albanian clans – widely spread throughout the country and which keep the Security Forces and Corps on full alert – have a low profile. Less aggressive than in countries like Sweden or Holland, where the fight against drug trafficking has become a state issue.
From the UDyCO they explain that to deal with the oversupply, the drug lords are lowering the prices per kilogram to the minimum: from 33,000 euros to approximately 18,000 euros. However, according to the same sources, this is not always translating into the pockets of consumers, who have not seen a reduction in the price per gram, which continues to hover between 50 and 80 euros, depending on how premium the narcotic is.
In addition to the price reductions they make to the different European criminal organizations that receive the stash, the mafias are selling their merchandise in markets such as Africa, more unexplored, or Australia, where the high price paid there for this drug, makes the country a highly coveted territory.
Until the year ends and the Ministry of the Interior publishes the annual reports on seizures, no one doubts that records will be shattered. The National Police assure that this is proof that Spain is very committed to the fight against drug trafficking, despite the fact that “complicated times” are ahead in which the curve will continue to rise.
