Drugs in the Schengen area: Germany becomes the hub of crime!

Drugs in the Schengen area: Germany becomes the hub of crime!

Favoriten, Österreich - The Schengen area, which was originally created for unlimited mobility and open borders, has increasingly become the playground of drug cartels. Various criminal gangs use the open borders in Europe to build a flourishing business with illegal drugs. Exxpress.at reports that the police are faced with the enormous challenges that this illegal trade entails.

A current forecast estimates the sales of drug trafficking in Europe for 2024 to 30 billion euros. The traditional countries of origin for drugs such as hashish, heroin and cocaine are still Morocco, Afghanistan and Colombia. These drugs come directly into the city centers of Europe via highways, and remarkable trends can be observed in Germany.

The role of Germany in drug trafficking

Germany has developed into a central hub in European drug trafficking, since the country has nine open borders and pursues a comparatively liberal drug policy. The federal states in particular at the borders to Poland and Austria see an increase in drug smuggling activities. Exxpress.at emphasizes that almost half of all illegal entry via Poland and 29 percent via Austria are carried out, often in connection with drug crime.

Hamburg, Bremerhaven and Wilhelmshaven act as central gates of the fell for cocaine and heroin. In Vienna, too, drug trafficking via organized network is active, especially in the district of favorites, which suffers from open drug crime. Here the required police forces of less than 300 for almost 200,000 inhabitants are not enough, while the weapon ban zone is perceived as inadequate symbol policy.

The failure of politics is considered the reason for the gaps in European security. In 2023, 7,904 investigations of human trafficking were registered in Germany, which corresponds to an increase of 60 percent compared to the previous year. A total of around 10,000 people, mainly women and girls, were smuggled across European borders. This led to an increase in asylum applications in Austria and overload the police.

international dimension of drug problems

The drug problem is a major challenge for the international community. The foreign office US dollar is estimated a year. Illegal drug trafficking not only supports organized crime, but also destabilizes affected states and endangers public health.

Germany plays a central role in the fight against international drug trafficking and, together with the EU, pursues a balanced approach. Important aspects are the support of institutional structures in countries of origin and the creation of alternative earning opportunities in order to reduce drug growing. The EU's new EU drug strategy also relies on a health-oriented drug policy that was worked out during the EU Presidency in 2020.

Current developments on the drug market

An analysis of the European Drug Agency (EMCDDA) shows a resilient European drug market that is influenced by global developments. The European drug report 2024 notes that drugs are high in the EU, often in new forms or combinations. This contributes to the increase in health risks and problems such as homelessness, psychiatric diseases and youth crime.

2022, record -breaking 323 tons of cocaine in the EU were secured. With 9.5 tons, Spain recorded the largest cocaine security in a single program. The polyvalent drug use is an additional challenge, since the consumption behavior of several substances increases, which further complicates health care.