At the end of his term in office, the German Interpol Secretary General is sounding the alarm. Organized crime is becoming more powerful and the problem with cocaine is growing. The fight for territory also begins in Germany.
New York/Hamburg – Outgoing Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock is sounding the alarm about internationally operating gangs. “The world is in danger of losing the fight against transnational organized crime,” Stock told the German Press Agency in New York. The potential of these gangs to “destabilize even developed countries, for example in Europe, has also reached unprecedented proportions.”
German Stock will step down as Secretary General of Interpol in November after a ten-year term. The Brazilian Valdecy Urquiza has the best chance of succeeding him. With 196 member states, Interpol is the world’s largest police organization and coordinates international police cooperation.
Stock emphasized that the international criminal police organization has clear knowledge that mafia groups that used to operate more regionally have now spread to all parts of the world. “They have become global criminals, they act like global companies,” said the senior police officer. They had “astronomical amounts of resources” at their disposal, for example to promote human and arms trafficking.
Cocaine is a particularly big problem
However, the bandits’ main source of income continues to be drug trafficking, which is also becoming an increasingly serious problem in Central Europe, including Germany. “We are talking about all types of drugs that are available in the criminal markets. But at the moment, cocaine is above all a big problem,” Stock continued.
Despite news of record drug discoveries in the ports of Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg, the price and supply on the streets did not change – a clear sign that there is no shortage. Estimates suggested that drug agents confiscated only about 15 to 20 percent of all imports.
Extremely deadly fentanyl is creeping into Europe
This is dangerous, among other things, because the synthetic opioid fentanyl is increasingly found mixed into the drugs. “We can currently see that it is also creeping into the European markets,” says the Interpol Secretary General. Fentanyl is potentially more dangerous than other drugs; experts say it is around 50 times more potent than heroin. Just two milligrams is considered a potentially fatal dose.
In the United States, fentanyl has already led to an enormous drug problem with tens of thousands of deaths. According to the US national institute that studies drug abuse, more than 70,000 people died from overdoses of synthetic opioids – especially fentanyl – in 2021 alone.
The route of cocaine: From South America to the German street corner
According to Stock, cocaine in particular still comes from the cartels in South America, especially in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. For example, it arrives on ships heading to the Pacific in the port of the Ecuadorian city of Guayaquil. “From then on the market becomes very flexible,” says Stock. The highly profitable drug reaches Europe via various routes with a local street price of around 70 to 90 euros per gram.
One of the routes leads through West Africa, which is partly politically shattered, from where drugs reach North Africa and thus the Mediterranean region. According to Stock, a big problem with the ports in Europe is the level of corruption, which many local police chiefs have complained about: “The influx of drugs can only be explained by the fact that the port authorities and the people working there are obviously corrupted. “
Turf wars on the last few meters to the consumer
Along the route, the drug business repeatedly leads to violence – but crimes are also increasing at the end of the illegal supply chain. There, on the so-called last mile, local gangs organized street sales. “And because it is so profitable, they are fighting for their territory even in this phase.” Examples include Sweden, Belgium and the Netherlands. “But there are also reports from Germany, there are signs that this fight has begun at least in parts of Germany,” said Stock.
In order to counter the threat posed by gangs, more cooperation between national law enforcement authorities is needed, says Stock. The state authorities would have to specifically target the ten to 15 largest groups. dpa
#States #danger #losing #mafia