Drug trafficking is a highly profitable commercial activity and remains a core business for organised crime groups across Europe today. Understanding the reality of the European drug market requires a holistic approach, following the economic chain from production, via trafficking, to consumption.
Taking such an approach, two EU agencies — the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) and Europol — have joined forces to provide the first state-of-the-art overview of this market in its entirety. The EU drug markets report — a strategic analysis will be launched in Brussels on 31 January by European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström. The Commissioner will be joined at the press conference by EMCDDA Director Wolfgang Götz and Europol Director Rob Wainwright.
Launch date: Thursday 31 January 2013
Time: 12:30 (Central European Time)
Press conference: European Commission, press room, Berlaymont, Brussels
Report (English) and press materials (EU languages): Commissioner Malmström's website (embargo 31.1.2013 at 12.00): See also EMCDDA event's page ● Europol
Contact: (Spokespersons’ service): Michele Cercone (+ 32 2 298 09 63) Tove Ernst (+ 32 2 298 67 64).
Experts at the EMCDDA and Europol will also be available for interviews (see contacts below).
Individual chapters explore today’s markets for heroin, cocaine, cannabis, amphetamine, methamphetamine, ecstasy and new psychoactive substances. Each of these opens with key statistics ‘at a glance’, going on to address issues as broad as production, consumer markets, trafficking and organised crime. Adopting an approach which is pragmatic and applied, the agencies identify key conclusions to inform future policies.
The analysis provided combines insights from the EMCDDA’s monitoring and data analysis of Europe’s drug phenomenon with Europol’s operational understanding of trends in organised crime.
