Executive summary

• Author: European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EU body or agency), Europol (EU body or agency)
• Pages: 13-19

13

Executive summary

is report provides astrategic and action-oriented analysis of the information available on

Europe’s drug market. It uses abroad denition of the illicit drug market, encompassing the

illicit production, tracking, wholesale distribution and sale of controlled substances to the

end user. e drug market has wide-ranging impacts on both security and public health,

and therefore such aholistic and systemic perspective is important for the eective delivery

and monitoring of drug control policy and supply reduction activities.

Impacts and drivers of drug markets

e drug market is amajor source of income for organised crime groups (OCGs) in the

EU, with minimum estimated retail value of EUR30billion per year. In addition to the

economic impact, drug-related deaths and other harms to public health, there are broader

consequences of drug markets, such as links with wider criminal activities and terrorism; the

negative impact on the legal economy; violence in communities; damage to the environment;

and the increasingly important issue of how the drug market can fuel corruption and

undermine governance.

Analysis of OCG activities highlights the importance of the drug market and that strong links

exist with other areas of serious crime. More than one third of the 5000 OCGs identied

in the EU’s Serious and Organised Crime reat Assessment (SOCTA) 2017 were directly

involved in the drug market and, overall, illicit drugs represent the most valuable market

for criminal organisations operating in the EU. About two thirds of those engaged in the

drug trade are also involved in other criminal activities. ere are also signs of increasing

competition between groups leading to escalating violence within the EU drug market. All

data indicate that overall drug availability within Europe, for both natural and synthetic drugs,

remains very high. e European drug market is increasingly characterised by consumers

having access to awide variety of high-purity and high-potency products that, in real terms,

are usually equivalent in price or cheaper than they have been over the past decade.

is reects high levels of production globally and within the EU. Cocaine production in South

America and heroin production in Afghanistan are estimated to be at historically high levels.

Europe is also amajor producer of cannabis and synthetic drugs for the EU market and to

some extent is aglobal supplier of MDMA and amphetamine. Developments in the area of

precursors have been an important driver of the expansion of drug production.

e drug market is becoming more globally connected and technologically enabled. e

main drivers of change behind the developments and new threats detailed in this report

stem from the ability of OCGs to exploit the opportunities arising from the existence of global

commercial markets and the associated logistical developments and digitalisation.

Globalised commercial markets require the transportation of goods across borders as rapidly

and simply as possible. ere has been arapid growth in the volume of trade using both

intermodal transportation networks for large-volume shipments, often involving containers,

and rapid parcel and postal delivery services for smaller volumes. ese are increasingly

exploited by OCGs for drug-tracking activities. OCGs are becoming more internationally

connected and exploit the gaps and dierences that exist in regulatory and drug control

environments.

e drug market is increasingly digitally enabled. Both the surface web and darknet

markets are used for online drug sales, as are social media and mobile communication

apps. Encryption and anonymised services are also increasingly used by OCGs for secure