The price of cocaine falls by half due to overproduction at source due to the ban on fumigating plantations

The year 2023 points to record seizures in Spanish ports, although they have not yet reached the levels of Antwerp and Rotterdam

MADRID, 7 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The price of cocaine has fallen almost by half due to overproduction in the Latin American countries of origin and has left 2023 pointing to a record year in seizures in Spain, due to the significant increase in the entry of containers with this drug through ports. from Valencia, Algeciras or Barcelona destined for the European market, although they have not yet reached the levels of Antwerp (Belgium) and Rotterdam (Netherlands).

Police and Tax Agency officials observe an increase in cocaine shipments due to overproduction at source, in part due to the prohibition of fumigating plantations with chemicals in countries like Colombia. One piece of information to measure this is the price in Spain: the drug has gone from being paid around 33,000 euros per kilo a few years ago, to the current 18,000 euros.

The year 2023 points to the year in which the most cocaine has been seized, in the absence of official data from the Ministry of the Interior, according to UDYCO commanders in mid-December, when they showed the eleven tons of cocaine at the Canillas Police Complex (Madrid). intervened in two operations, the largest intervention of these characteristics in Spain.

Specifically, the National Police alone has seized about 20 tons more than last year, according to UDYCO estimates, and Customs Surveillance also corroborated this increase in drugs, as seizures have doubled in the last twelve months.

The historic seizure of eleven tons of cocaine in maritime containers in two operations in the ports of Vigo and Valencia confirmed for the Police and the Tax Agency the "rising market" represented by drug trafficking by criminal organizations of Albanian origin, of the well-known as Clan de los Balkanes, which control distribution in Europe from countries like Colombia and Ecuador.

The police pressure exerted against drug trafficking, significantly against cocaine, also reflects the fact that the Civil Guard has closed its eighth participation in 'Naval Operation Orion' in the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Caribbean Sea with a balance of eleven tons of cocaine seized and 23 arrested.

'Orion' is an international operation that involves 101 agencies and police and military forces from 41 countries. The overall result of this latest edition - including those of the Civil Guard - has been the seizure of 196 tons of cocaine, 175.6 tons of marijuana and 16.6 tons of hashish.

The total number of arrests amounts to 574 and 59 vessels have been seized. For all these reasons, it is estimated that 'Orion XII' has caused economic damage to international drug trafficking networks estimated at 7,802 million dollars.