UN Report: Cocaine Trafficking Surges Along Morocco-Netherlands Route via Spanish Port

The traffickers generally pass the cocaine through the port of Algeciras, considered the hub of international cocaine trafficking to Europe via the strait, the 2023 UNODC report notes, noting an explosion in global cocaine production over the past two years after a slowdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. The document reveals the use of the logistics for transporting hashish from Morocco to the Netherlands via Spain for cocaine trafficking. "It appears that these trafficking routes are managed by networks based in the Campo de Gibraltar," the report points out.

In 2021, the Civil Guard arrested in Barcelona a trafficker who was transporting cocaine from Colombia to Europe via the strait using the logistics and contacts he used for hashish trafficking. The report stresses that traffickers have diversified their routes and are sending more and more cocaine to the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg, abandoning the traditional entry points in Spain and Portugal. They hide small quantities of cocaine in books, religious images and vehicle parts, it is specified.

Since 2019, the use of West and Central African routes to transport cocaine to European markets has increased considerably. A record amount of drugs was seized on the continent in 2021. "The potential for expansion of the cocaine market in Africa and Asia is a dangerous reality. I urge governments and other stakeholders to closely examine the report’s findings to determine how this transnational threat can be addressed with transnational responses based on awareness, prevention and international and regional cooperation," said UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly when presenting the report.

"Once the cocaine arrives in Spain, a large part is distributed throughout Europe by road in vehicles. However, cases of transshipment of containers to other European ports, such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy, have also been observed, for example in the port of Algeciras near the Strait of Gibraltar," the UN agency details, indicating that more than 100 drug trafficking networks are active in the Costa del Sol area and use underwater drones to transport drugs across the strait.