this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2026
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Criminal drug gangs have become a grave threat to European security by flooding the streets with South American cocaine, seeking to corrupt officials and hiring a new wave of paid assassins, according to the EU’s drugs agency.

This year has served up stark examples. A police union in southern Spain said the state had “lost control” of the fight against traffickers. A judge said Belgium was at risk of becoming a “narco-state”. And the killing of an anti-drug activist’s brother in Marseille heightened fears that France was heading the same way.

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[–] pleasureyoucanmeasure@lemmy.sdf.org 11 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Have they considered decriminalizing drugs

[–] untorquer@lemmy.world 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Are you mad? All those criminals would have to find other laws to break!

[–] Thedogdrinkscoffee@lemmy.ca 2 points 22 hours ago

Decriminalizing drugs is a gateway drug to, drugs.

This is a serious and rising problem, but one that is not limited just to South American drugs as many reports have shown in recent years.

For example, synthetic drugs from the Netherlands are exported worldwide, with China providing a significant portion of the laboratory equipment, raw materials and chemicals necessary for their production (opens pdf).

In 2021, one reports shows how Asian drug-trafficking networks operate in Europe:

[A] European Parliament report noted that Chinese criminal groups often collaborate with Dutch groups in the Netherlands supplying MDMA and meth precursors like piperonyl methyl ketone (PMK) and benzyl methyl ketone (BMK), respectively.

And more recently, an investigation reveals how China and Chinese mafias overseas protect each other’s interests:

The rise of Chinese organized crime in Europe highlights its ties to the Chinese state, national security officials say. Recent cases show the suspected role of mobsters in Beijing’s campaign to repress diaspora communities and amass influence.

[–] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago) (1 children)

Ah, so it's US desinformation.

[–] deHaga@feddit.uk 2 points 1 day ago

The US disinformation is that Venezuela is sending drugs into the US, when in fact a lot of drugs from Venezuela are smuggled into Europe.

[–] etherphon@lemmy.world 1 points 19 hours ago

It's still bonkers to me, how we went through prohibition in America, and learned that you can't control people's behavior and that people love to get wasted or tipsy, but we can't apply the same lessons learned to other drugs, and alcohol is very much a drug. It's a fools errand to even attempt to eradicate drug use, it's a waste of money and ruining countless lives every day, we need education, treatment, MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS AND REMOVING STIGMAS RELATED TO ASKING FOR HELP.

[–] untorquer@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

More like European agency poses grave threat to partying.