The number of cocaine seizures for 2023, a year that was expected to be a record, is now official: 117 tons, double that of 2023. The security forces and bodies that a milestone would be reached, but it has not been confirmed until this Tuesday, when the Ministry of the Interior has made official statistics public. The annual drug statistics conclude that more than 530 tons of cocaine, hashish, heroin and marijuana were seized last year. Added to these quantities are the million marijuana plants located in Andalusia, Catalonia, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha and the Valencian Community, where a drop in marijuana seizures of 57% has been detected. Arrests for drug trafficking increased by 5.8% and the communities that have recorded the most increases have been Cantabria (29%), Murcia (20%), Comunidad Madrid (15%) and Comunidad Valenciana (14%).
These figures, prepared by the Intelligence Center against Terrorism and Organized Crime (CITCO), offer a detailed overview of the operations carried out by the National Police, the Civil Guard and the Tax Agency, but do not include the arrests made by the regional police. The report shows an increase in seizures of cocaine (101%), hashish resin (12%) and heroin (66%). In addition, it details a long list of seizures of synthetic drugs, including ecstasy units, which have increased by 74%, methamphetamines (57%), or amphetamines (89%). Other intervened substances, such as alprazolam (better known by the brand Trankimazin), have multiplied by six; or ketamine, for four.
By region, Andalusia leads the number of arrests for drug trafficking (7,355), followed by the Community of Madrid (4,921) and the Valencian Community (4,208). The largest increases in detainees have been recorded in Cantabria, with 165 detainees, the Region of Murcia (1,325 detainees), and the Madrid and Valencian communities. The greatest decreases in arrests are in the Basque Country (142 arrested and a drop of 41%), Ceuta (121 arrested, -19%) and Comunidad Foral de Navarra (114 arrested, -15%).
The last one, carried out every two years by the National Plan on Drugs, and made public at the beginning of December, “is the result of efforts to control supply”, that is, of police actions. The drugs that are perceived as most accessible are cannabis (59% of people interviewed believe they could easily obtain it in 24 hours) and cocaine (40.6%). For other illegal substances, the perception of availability is much lower.
According to this report, among the most consumed substances in the last 12 months in our country are alcohol (76.5%) and tobacco (36.8%), followed by cannabis (12.6%) and sedative-hypnotics. with or without prescription (12.0%). The consumption of powder and/or base cocaine is much lower (2.5%) and, even lower, that of other substances.
Spain is the third country in European statistics in the amount of cocaine entry (after Belgium and the Netherlands) and the first in Europe in entry of hashish from Morocco, in addition to being the first producer of cannabis, according to . According to tax data, proceedings for these crimes increased by a notable 10% last year.
The destruction of large marijuana plantations has forced the Ministry of the Interior to increase to 870,793 euros, VAT included, the budget that it will allocate over the next four years to hire gardening companies, according to EL PAÍS published last July. In recent years, the number of plants intervened has gone from 828,582 in 2018 to 3.2 million in 2021 and 2.8 million in 2022. In 2023, the numbers have dropped by 57%, to 1.2 million plants. .
The European Commission has already shown its concern about the increase in organized crime linked to drug trafficking and warned of the historic entry of cocaine into the EU, citing the largest seizures in (Cádiz). Just two months ago, a new milestone was reached, with the intervention, also in the Cadiz port of Algeciras, of .
