The German government's drug and addiction commissioner has warned that the Trump administration's crackdown on drug cartels in Latin America could push trafficking routes towards Europe and Germany, reported dpa.
"Tougher action by the US administration against drug cartels in Colombia and Venezuela will likely not ease the situation in Europe and Germany – on the contrary," Hendrik Streeck told the mass-circulation Bild newspaper in remarks published late Thursday.
Criminal networks typically react with "alternative routes, new transit countries and often more potent substitute substances," the commissioner said.
"For Germany, this could mean a shift in trafficking routes by sea and land as well as in digital distribution," Streeck added. "We are already facing highly dynamic structures of organized crime, particularly online."
The warning comes as the United States has for weeks been carrying out repeated strikes on boats suspected of smuggling drugs. Dozens of people are reported to have been killed in such operations in the Caribbean.
Streeck, a virologist who rose to public prominence during the coronavirus pandemic, said the situation on the drug market was already tense. "We are facing a looming drug crisis," he said.
Cocaine, crack and synthetic drugs were widely available and cocaine prices were falling, Streeck said, increasing both reach and risk.
"At the same time, users are getting younger; The 14% increase in drug-related deaths among people under 30 is a clear warning sign," he said.
- US drug crackdown
- Shift trafficking
- Europe
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
