Spain is considered the gateway to Europe for drugs, according to the conclusion reflected in the data of the World Report on Drugs, which was issued by the United Nations, as in terms of consumption and seizures, it tops the list of the most seized with 430 tons of drugs, according to the Spanish newspaper “Marca”.
The Spanish newspaper "Marca" indicated that Spain is the country in the world where the largest number of cannabis seizures were seized in 2019, 350 tons, according to the World Drug Report 2021 implemented by the United Nations.
Regarding marijuana, although the United States is the country with the most withdrawals from the market (392 tons), Spain is the European country that ranks first in this regard, with 40, and Italy and France caught 23, 6 and 22 respectively during the year 2019.
In addition, it is the European country where the largest amount of methamphetamine (1.5 tons) and MDMA (413 kg) were captured. The marijuana data is really astonishing, as according to the figures of the last report, corresponding to 2018, only 51 kilograms were seized.
On the other hand, Spain is the third country in Europe with the largest number of cocaine seizures (37.8 tons), a quantity representing 2.6% of the worldwide trade of this substance. Belgium (65.2) and the Netherlands (43.8) acquired more drugs away from the market in the old continent.
11% of Spaniards admit to using cannabis, a percentage similar to that of France, and as for cocaine, 2.2% of citizens in Spain admit to using it, the same amount as in the Netherlands, but less than that in the United Kingdom (2.9). On the other hand, Ecstasy and methamphetamine are consumed only at 0.6 and 0.5% in Spain, which is low compared to other countries.
Euronews has described Spain as Europe's marijuana paradise and orchard, and after decades of being the gateway to Moroccan hashish, marijuana plantations are multiplying, attracting criminal gangs from across the continent.
“Marijuana is rooted in such a way that all organized crime from all over Europe comes to Spain and specifically Catalonia, because Catalonia is what we call the garden of Europe,” said Ramon Chacon, deputy head of the Catalan regional police’s criminal investigation unit, Mosos de Escuadra. marijuana."
"That infrastructure for those people who used to work with cannabis now realize they're making more money with marijuana, and then they stopped importing cannabis, which is also imported, but almost all of the business is going into marijuana."
According to the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, marijuana seizures quadrupled in Spain between 2014 and 2018, accounting for a third of these operations in the European Union, and according to the European Drug Report 2019 the largest number of seizures occurred in Catalonia, and a criminal gang could earn between 200,000 and 400,000 euros.
Euronews pointed out that the price of a gram of marijuana is 5 euros in Spain, but it is three times higher in the rest of Europe, and even six times its price in some northern countries, and with about 25 million users, marijuana is the drug of choice in Europe. According to Europol, Europeans spent 11.6 billion euros on marijuana last year, 39% of all drug investment.
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