This resource is part of EU Drug Market: Drivers and facilitators by the EMCDDA and Europol.
Globalisation is the process by which entities become globally interconnected through networks of communication, trade and transportation. This has a significant effect on illicit drug markets, as criminal networks exploit globalisation to achieve similar benefits to participants in the legal economy. Globalisation has provided significant opportunities for criminal cooperation, while also enabling cheaper, faster and more efficient criminal operations – as seen in the trafficking of large quantities of illicit drugs.
Criminal cooperation
Globalisation provides opportunities for criminal cooperation and integration along the supply chain, thus making operations more efficient. Drug trafficking stands out as one of the main activities of the most threatening criminal networks in the EU, with about half of the reported networks involved in this crime area (Europol, 2024a). The impact of globalisation on communication channels, specifically the process of digitalisation, has played a key role in enabling cooperation between criminal networks in Europe and globally (see Box Digital cooperation).
Greater interconnectedness between criminal networks has also boosted the emergence of key facilitators that provide their services to several different networks. Criminal ventures increasingly mirror licit business models, where partnerships are formed opportunistically based on business needs, while some services are outsourced to specialised criminal service providers. Ad hoc or more permanent partnerships are often established between different criminal networks, in which brokers or criminal service providers work together with individual criminals or groups tied to core criminal activities, such as drug trafficking. This has led to a serious and organised crime environment that is simultaneously characterised by fragmentation and networking, where profit is the main motivation for cooperation.
Services provided to drug-trafficking networks
The use of criminal service providers by drug-trafficking networks has become widespread in recent years. While some networks manage most of their operations independently, drug trafficking typically requires establishing fluid collaboration between networks, sharing responsibilities and outsourcing certain functions or even entire stages of the trafficking chain to specialised networks or individuals. In this context, crime-as-a-service provides flexibility to drug-trafficking networks in managing their illicit activities, which involve distinct stages and often span different countries or continents (see Box Crime-as-a-service). Services include transportation and logistics, supply chain management, waste disposal, provision of fraudulent documents (e.g. to facilitate the transportation of drugs or procurement of essential chemicals and equipment) and money laundering.
Brokers are also present in all stages of criminal business operations and serve multiple criminal networks. They are essential in connecting these networks to each other and to criminal service providers. In the context of drug-trafficking operations, brokers connect drug producers to wholesale distributors, to transportation providers and to retail distributors. This may lead to a shift between or expansion of the range of drugs offered by certain networks (see Box Poly-drug trafficking). They also facilitate contact with other criminal specialists who provide firearms, fraudulent documents, chemicals, equipment and expertise for drugs production. Some brokers coordinate the movement of drugs consignments and facilitate money laundering, waste disposal and access to compromised individuals.
Transportation and logistics
A key aspect of globalisation is the interconnectedness of global supply chains caused by the digitalisation of international logistics. The role played by information technology in checking and managing traffic flows at seaports and airports has increased the importance to criminals of having access to automated logistics systems. They may obtain such access through the corruption or cooperation of key staff, such as through bribes or extortion, and by hacking into computer networks or via publicly accessible databases (as both maritime and air traffic data are often publicly available). A recent assessment of the threat of infiltration of EU port infrastructure by organised crime highlighted the techniques that criminal networks use to exploit loopholes in logistical processes, such as misappropriating container reference codes to gain access to containers in which drugs are trafficked (known as PIN code fraud) (Europol and the Security Steering Committee of the ports of Antwerp, Hamburg/Bremerhaven and Rotterdam, 2023). In future, it is plausible that entire logistical chains will be automated, which may create the potential for exploitation by criminal networks (for example, if criminals are able to compromise one part of the system, they may then gain access to the whole logistical chain). Appropriate technological responses are therefore needed to mitigate these threats (see Box Real-time vessel tracking capability developed by Frontex).
Maritime transportation
According to the UNODC, an estimated 90 % of the global cargo trade is transported by sea every year (amounting to over 750 million 20-foot equivalent units) (1) (UNODC, date unspecified). Given that maritime transport is used in 77 % of EU external trade and 35 % of all trade by value between EU Member States, it forms a key part of the international supply chain. Despite a temporary dip in activity in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the maritime transport sector continues to grow, fuelled by rising demand for primary resources and container shipping (EEA and EMSA, 2021).
The criminal exploitation of maritime routes continues to be a critical enabler of drug trafficking, as only a small fraction of shipping containers globally is screened. Large container ports in Europe and other continents continue to be exploited by drug traffickers for bulk transportation. In 2020, 72 % of the 609 drug detections made during Frontex-coordinated joint operations were reported at sea borders or adjacent areas (Frontex, 2021). As detailed in other EU Drug Markets resources (see EU Drug Market: Cocaine), most of the cocaine available on the EU market enters via the largest container ports in Europe, although increasingly, smaller ports are also utilised. Maritime routes have also risen in prominence for the trafficking of other drugs such as heroin (see EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids). Recently, large quantities of cannabis have also been trafficked in maritime containers to Europe, including from North America (see EU Drug Market: Cannabis). In August 2023, more than 1 tonne of cannabis was seized in Rotterdam from a container shipped from Canada (Openbaar Ministerie, 2023). These developments underscore how globalisation is erasing barriers between origin, transit and consumer destinations for illicit drug flows.
Factors affecting the maritime sector are likely to influence the global drug trade. For example, conflict, instability and economic pressures may lead to shifting supply routes, as already observed in the rise in heroin trafficking along the southern maritime route from Afghanistan to Europe (see EU Drug Market: Heroin and other opioids). Such changes may in turn affect drug-trafficking routes, prices (and purities) along the supply chain, or lead to other routes or transportation methods being used to move drug consignments globally.
Diversification of maritime trafficking methods
In recent years, diversification has been observed in the methods used for maritime drug trafficking (see EU Drug Market: Cocaine; see also Figure Maritime trafficking: diversification of modi operandi). Typically, drug traffickers operate front companies, which they establish themselves or preferably buy, becoming the owners of businesses with a history of legal activity. This enables them to conceal activities related to illicit drugs, such as purchasing equipment or moving funds, but crucially also to hide drug consignments in legitimate maritime shipments.
Alternatively, traffickers appropriate the containers of other companies and use them to transport large quantities of drugs. This is achieved by breaking open the containers before export, depositing the drugs inside and re-sealing the container with cloned seals to hide the tampering (known as rip-on/rip-off). In some cases, the containers are contaminated en route to the destination, in transhipment locations.
On arrival, the traffickers require access to the port to retrieve the stashed drugs from the containers. To do so, they may either trespass or pay port workers in order to obtain access. Corruption, as well as being a negative consequence of drug markets, is a key enabler of organised criminal activity – and opportunities for corruption exist at every stage of the drug supply chain.
Civil aviation
In addition to maritime transport, air transport is also used for drug trafficking to and within the European Union. The two main categories of civil aviation used are scheduled air transport, including passenger and cargo flights operating on regular routes, and general aviation, which includes all other commercial and private flights. Detecting consignments of drugs trafficked via general aviation is particularly challenging as it is less regulated than scheduled air transport, and as a result there is limited opportunity to inspect air cargo. Criminal networks use general aviation, from small aircraft to business jets, for trafficking drugs making use of the services provided by skilled collaborators, mostly well-experienced pilots commissioned for ad hoc projects
Air cargo has become a key facilitator for the online trade, and this has also had an impact on drug trafficking. In 2021, air cargo represented a third of the revenue of International Air Transport Association member airlines, driven by an increase in demand and a decrease in passenger travel during the pandemic (IATA, 2021b). Estimates show that around 80 % of cross-border online trade (e-commerce) is transported by air (IATA, 2021a).
Criminal networks increasingly exploit the opportunities of air cargo services for drug trafficking by concealing drugs among legitimate cargo or within the airplane itself. An in-depth analysis of 16 cases from the Dutch Organised Crime Monitor found that traffickers use Amsterdam Airport Schiphol as a key logistical node by exploiting the infrastructure set up for legal economic activities (Madarie and Kruisbergen, 2020). In one case, a criminal group established a cleaning company at the airport to gain access to aircraft and IT systems (Madarie and Kruisbergen, 2020). The use of airports for drug trafficking can be likened to that of maritime ports, in terms of the mechanisms involved to evade security, for example by using corrupt employees or law enforcement agents. Differences in the way airports operate and their security arrangements, however, mean that criminal networks sometimes use different methods to those used in seaports.
Post and parcel services
Globalisation and digitalisation have paved the way for the expansion of express post and parcel delivery services, with the growing trend for online shopping associated with an increase in parcel deliveries in Europe (Eurostat, 2022; Statista, 2021). The overall quantity of drugs trafficked by these means remains limited compared with other forms of transportation (such as maritime and air traffic). Nevertheless, the increase in postal delivery volumes poses challenges for the systematic inspection of parcels and presents an opportunity for drug traffickers to traffic smaller quantities of drugs rapidly at global level. As a consequence, law enforcement authorities in EU Member States, and customs agencies in particular, have sought to increase checks in post and parcel hubs.
Criminals often conceal the origin and content of parcels by making false declarations and using fraudulent documents to circumvent risk indicators used to identify parcels for checks. To some degree, the identification of suppliers is also hampered by differences in regulatory frameworks and reporting between EU and non-EU postal systems and the use of parcel-forwarding services (see Box Parcel-forwarding services).
In particular, the postal system is often used for deliveries of online drug purchases (through social media, the surface web and darknet markets). This trend appears to have rapidly expanded and intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic. Examples from Germany and the Netherlands illustrate how criminals use this method, which affects all Member States, and a number of countries have reported considerable increases in letters and parcels containing drugs (see Box Post and parcel seizures in Germany and the Netherlands). The specific routing of parcels varies widely, including direct routes from source to destination or via EU transit hubs and non-EU locations.
Targeted screening, supported by artificial intelligence, can make it easier to identify postal items with illicit contents. Such measures can significantly disrupt the distribution of illicit drugs by this modus operandi. They can also help protect postal service staff from coming into contact with potentially dangerous substances. Dutch Customs, in partnership with PostNL and the police, are working to introduce algorithms in the scanning process to check mail more effectively in postal sorting centres (Rijksoverheid, 2021).
References
Consult the list of references used in this module.