The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) claimed in its annual report this week that drug use is witnessed “almost everywhere in our society”, and is having “a significant impact on European health and security.”
The report, which contains data from 2021, reveals that hard drugs like cocaine are readily available within the European markets, with a record 303 tonnes of the drug being seized by EU authorities that year. This drug was reportedly responsible for around a fifth of overdose deaths during this period.
In an interview with Euronews released on Friday, however, EMCDDA director Alexis Goosdeel said that the true figure is likely higher.
🇪🇺 Drugs and the use of illicit substances are having an increasingly negative impact on nearly all aspects of European life, according to the EU's drug agency. #EuropeNewshttps://t.co/4DAdFzIJFB
— euronews (@euronews) June 16, 2023
“We can be fairly sure this is an underestimate because in some cases, the use or abuse of cocaine also mixed with other substances can have an effect as a heart attack, and therefore the heart attacks may not be automatically identified as related to cocaine use.”
Goosdeel added that drugs are now “everywhere” in Europe.
“We never had so many drugs being smuggled through Europe or produced in Europe,” he said, adding that the drug trade was closely linked to corruption within the continent.
“Corruption as a whole is a huge risk for democracy and for the rule of law”, he said.
“It is not only associated to drugs. Today we see it more in the context of drug trafficking, in particular cocaine…some studies and some international programmes showed that the corruption in Europe sometimes maybe was underestimated.”
He said that “organised criminal groups” dealing in drugs were very competent.
The news comes as the Irish High Court has heard that a number of senior Gardaí, including a detective sergeant, were allegedly involved in importing drugs and controlling the supply of illicit substances to criminal dealers. According to the Sunday World, the alleged activities supposedly took place between 1997 and 2014.
A judge heard allegations that a number of officers supervised the importation of drugs and controlled the flow of shipments to dealers….https://t.co/FMtLpMxAXs
— Sunday World (@sundayworld) June 16, 2023
Earlier this year, a female Garda officer was arrested at Dublin Airport after allegedly being caught with €100 worth of cocaine.
Sources have told us that the officer, who is aged in her 30s and based in the greater Dublin area, was arrested as part of an ongoing intelligence-led investigationhttps://t.co/gtJ9qdRItN
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) April 21, 2023
Also earlier this year, Gardaí launched an investigation into a GSOC officer who was suspected of having allegedly attended a “welcome home” party for Gerry “The Monk” Hutch.
Ex-GSOC officer in Hutch party probe quizzed on suspicion of offence that carries seven year jail termhttps://t.co/gKIyu1ubjd
— Irish Daily Mirror (@IrishMirror) April 28, 2023