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BKA President warns of the influence of organized crime in the drug trade

2021-07-27T17:16:44.623Z


The number of drug offenses has continued to rise. Organized crime and gang crime has "assumed considerable proportions" according to the BKA. The influence of the corona pandemic is apparently small.


Enlarge image

BKA President Holger Münch

Photo: Jürgen Heinrich / imago images / Jürgen Heinrich

According to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the number of drug offenses known to the police in Germany increased for the tenth year in a row in 2020.

In this context, the President of the (BKA), Holger Münch, warned of an increase in organized crime in the drug trade.

Organized crime and gang crime have "assumed considerable proportions" in Europe and also in Germany, said Münch at the presentation of the situation report on drug crime for 2020 in Berlin.

The evaluation of the so-called EncroChat data from the encrypted communication of criminals also shows »the growing potential for violence in this area of ​​phenomena«.

The BKA has been investigating users of encrypted mobile phones from EncroChat since March 2020 on suspicion of drug trafficking.

According to the BKA, criminal groups in Germany and Europe achieve considerable profits with the internationally organized cocaine trade alone.

These would again be invested in drug crime, but also in the acquisition of luxury goods and ultimately also in the legal economy via money laundering.

The use of weapons is no longer uncommon, said Münch.

In the past year, 284,723 suspects from the area of ​​organized drug trafficking were identified, and an increasing number of them were armed.

1.7 percent more drug offenses than in the previous year

Overall, drug crime in Germany rose again, as in previous years.

Last year, 365,753 drug offenses were registered - 1.7 percent more than in the previous year.

According to the BKA, the restrictions due to the corona pandemic had little impact on drug crime.

Rather, drug trafficking has shifted further to the Internet, since mail and parcel delivery are not affected by the measures to protect against the coronavirus compared to other transport options.

Illicit drug trafficking and smuggling rose 1.8 percent.

54,348 offenses were recorded here last year.

A total of 1,581 people died last year from consuming illegal drugs, around 13 percent more than in the previous year.

With a share of around two thirds of all drug offenses, cannabis remains the most widely trafficked and consumed drug.

The number of cannabis trafficking crimes rose 1.5 percent last year.

The detected crimes in cocaine trafficking also increased by 9.6 percent and in trafficking in crystalline methamphetamine - so-called crystal - by 7.2 percent.

"Destroy the opaque black market"

The number of traffickers in heroin and the synthetic drugs amphetamine and ecstasy fell.

BKA boss Münch also attributed the 11.8 percent decline in ecstasy offenses to the corona-related closure of clubs and discos.

This meant that a sales market was lost for ecstasy, which is considered a party drug.

The FDP, the Greens and the Left have called for cannabis to be legalized. "A controlled supply of cannabis would free up the necessary resources to meet the challenges of the rapidly developing drug market and organized crime," said the drug policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Wieland Schinnenburg. The Green Bundestag member Dieter Janecek told the Augsburger Allgemeine: “A controlled legalization of cannabis would destroy the opaque black market.” The drug policy spokesman for the left-wing faction, Niema Movassat, called for easier access to treatment options for opioid addicts and more alternative treatments and area-wide areas for drug consumption.

Both Münch and the drug commissioner of the federal government, Daniela Ludwig (CSU), turned against legalization.

Such a step alone makes the statistics look better, said Münch.

"But that doesn't mean that they have solved a problem with it, they just don't see it anymore." Experience in Canada, for example, has shown a considerable increase in cannabis consumption.

Young people feel encouraged to consume, which leads to health problems.

The "fairy tale of dehydration" is also not true, because most groups of perpetrators dealt with more than one drug and, in the event of legalization of cannabis, would tend to switch to more dangerous products.

bbr / dpa / AFP

Source: spiegel

All life articles on 2021-07-27

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