German police and customs investigators seized a record amount of cocaine this year – 35 tons of this narcotic substance, according to preliminary estimates released on Tuesday.
About 20 tons were confiscated in 2022, said the press secretary of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).
The previous record was in 2021, when 23 tons were seized, he said.
The public broadcaster “Norddeutscher Rundfunk” previously predicted that the total volume in 2023 could reach 40 tons.
“Since 2017, the amount of cocaine seized in Germany has increased significantly,” said the October BKA report on crime related to drug trafficking.
In 2018, the authorities confiscated only five tons. This means that the amount of seized cocaine has increased sevenfold in five years.
Most of the cocaine enters Germany from South America via container ports, mainly Hamburg and Bremerhaven.
By December, more than 30 tons of cocaine had been seized in German ports, the Hamburg Customs Investigation Office confirmed.
German authorities seize more than 16 tons of cocaine in the northern port city of Hamburg, 2021. Photo: Zollfahndungsamt Hamburg
2023-12-26 20:18:42
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