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European cocaine seizures on the increase
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| 07 April 2006 |
Belgium has reported a threefold increase in cocaine seizures for 2005, with authorities confiscating six tonnes of the drug in 2005, compared with 1.8 tonnes in 2004 and 429 kg in 2003.
Portugal and Spain are both witnessing similar trends. In 2005, the 46.6 tonnes of cocaine seized in Spain broke a new record, representing a 60 per cent increase on the previous year. Portuguese Judicial Police made the country's largest seizure ever of cocaine on 17 February when they found eight tonnes of cocaine in the Algarve, most in bales in a warehouse but some in a lorry reportedly transporting the drug to Galicia in northern Spain, the traditional hub of cocaine importation in Europe.
The past year has seen several multi-tonne cocaine seizures, including nearly four tonnes in an operation in Alto Minho in the far north of Portugal and Galicia at the beginning of February and 6.1 tonnes in a warehouse in Prior Velho, Sacavem, at the end of November 2005.
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