Violence, human trafficking, murders - the drug trade is related to other serious crimes, warns the drug commissioner Ludwig.
The BKA fears a growing influence of Mexican cartels in Europe.
Berlin - 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.
The President of the Wiesbaden authority, Holger Münch, said on Tuesday in Berlin.
Since there are usually no reports, most crimes are discovered during controls, which goes hand in hand with a high clearance rate of 92.1 percent, but also a large number of unreported cases. The drug commissioner of the federal government, Daniela Ludwig (CSU), emphasized: "Drug crime is an absolutely entrenched problem, worldwide, in Europe, but of course also in Germany."
POPULAR ILLEGAL DRUGS: "Cannabis is still the most widely traded and consumed type of drug in Germany," said Münch. The police registered a total of 31,961 cases of cannabis trafficking in 2020. Amphetamines were in second place with 5581 cases - in both drug groups with little changes compared to the previous year. This was followed by cocaine with 4,887 known trafficking crimes and an increase of 9.6 percent over the previous year. The police recorded 2,445 cases of ecstasy, which corresponds to a decrease of 11.8 percent. Behind was heroin with 2214 cases (minus 4.9 percent) and Crystal with 1737 cases (plus 7.2 percent). Among the legal drugs that were not the subject of the report, tobacco posed the greatest health risk, with numerous deaths and billions in damage to the economy.said Ludwig.
DISCUSSION ABOUT LEGALIZATION: FDP, Greens and Leftists are calling 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, among other things, for easier access to treatment options for opioid addicts and more Substitute treatments and area-wide rooms for drug consumption.
Both Münch and Ludwig, on the other hand, opposed legalization. Such a step alone makes the statistics look better, said Münch. “But that doesn't mean that you 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 deal with more than one drug and, in the event of cannabis legalization, would tend to switch to more dangerous products.
ORGANIZED CRIME: For criminal professional networks, drug trafficking and smuggling is an important business area with billions in profits.
According to Münch, this area accounts for more than a third of the proceedings in the area of organized crime.
“Violent crime is a defining element, and the use of weapons is no longer uncommon.” In the Netherlands there have been around 20 to 30 killings per year in this context over the past few years.
The victims are mostly, but not exclusively, criminals.
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BKA President Holger Münch and the drug commissioner of the federal government, Daniela Ludwig, at the presentation of the drug situation report 2020.
© Carsten Koall / dpa
Ludwig emphasized that the drug business is not just about the small dealers next door but, when in doubt, also about murder, extortion, human trafficking and forced prostitution.
INTERNATIONAL entanglements: The Federal Criminal Police Office fears a growing influence of Mexican drug cartels.
In the Netherlands and Belgium, Mexican perpetrators are increasingly involved in the production of illegal synthetic drugs, and in particular crystal.
"Mexican drug cartels are characterized by an enormous potential for violence, which, however, is still largely limited to the American continent," says the situation report.
"Should the influence of these cartels continue to increase in Europe, it is to be feared that this will also lead to violent or armed clashes between rival drug organizations."
Germany is an important sales market and retreat.
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Roll your own marijuana cigarettes, also called joints.
© Matthew Brown / AP / dpa
The police recorded a total of 284,723 suspects in 2020 in connection with drug offenses - this number, however, includes both drug dealers and users.
87 percent of them were men and almost three quarters were Germans.
INFLUENCE OF CORONA: According to Münch, drugs are increasingly being traded online.
"Overall, we believe that Corona is once again a catalyst, not only for digitization in society, but also in crime," said the BKA boss.
He is assuming an increase in supply on digital markets of 20 to 30 percent.
According to statistics, the falling sales of the party drug Ecstasy were also attributed to the corona restrictions by Münch.
ENCROCHAT: Münch describes the data from encrypted cell phones of the Encrochat provider, which the BKA obtained via Europol in April 2020, as the “truffle treasure” with an expiry date. This would give the authorities an unusual insight into the dark field. Every fourth suspect who used the relevant cell phones was armed, often with firearms or war weapons, according to the BKA boss. Based on the data, 2315 preliminary investigations have been initiated in Germany and 805 arrest warrants have been executed. In 520 preliminary investigations, the police had taken “operational measures” such as arrests, seizures of drugs, for example, and searches. dpa