Drug availability and drug markets: seizures data

Overview of the data

The index below lists the tables in the bulletin in the section dealing with drug seizures, along with a brief overview. See also the main overall index for all sections of the bulletin.

The tables in this section monitor over time the number of drug seizures and quantities seized by law enforcement agencies (mainly police and customs officials), figures that are available for many countries historically over the longer term. Tables include data from the EU Member States, the candidate countries and Norway.

Tables SZR-1 to SZR-16 show reported drug seizures by country, where data are available, for the major drug types of interest by both numbers of seizures and quantities seized. For tables SZR-7 to SZR-16, part (i) of each table gives historical, medium-term data for 1995 to 2004 and part (ii) of the table gives a longer historical run of figures from 1985.

Summary points

Cannabis

• Although the number of resin seizures in the EU as a whole declined between 1999 and 2003, trends in reporting countries indicate an increase at EU level in 2004. The total amount of resin intercepted in the EU shows a continuous increase over the period 1999–2004, although in 2004 a majority of countries (but not Spain) reported a decline (see Table SZR-1 and Table SZR-2).

• The numbers of herbal cannabis seizures in the EU have increased consistently since 1999 (Table SZR-03), although the quantity seized have been decreasing in reporting countries since 2001 (see Table SZR-4).

• The number of seizures of cannabis plants has increased since 1999 and, based upon data from reporting countries, continued to increase in 2004 (see Table SZR-5). Numbers of plants seized, reflecting trends in Turkey, increased between 2001 and 2003 but decreased in 2004 (see Table SZR-6)).

Heroin

• Over the period 1999–2004, seizures of heroin fluctuated; and based on data from reporting countries it seems that the decrease observed in 2002–03 was followed by an increase in 2004 (Table SZR-7 part (i)). Over the same period, quantities seized increased overall to a record level in 2004, mainly because Turkey nearly doubled the amount of heroin recovered that year (see Table SZR-8 part (i)).

Cocaine

• )Over the period 1999–2004, the number of cocaine seizures increased overall at EU level, while quantities seized fluctuated within an upward trend. However, based on reporting countries, quantities appear to have declined in 2004 (perhaps in comparison with the exceptional amount recovered in Spain the year before) (see Table SZR-9 part (i and Table SZR-10 part (i)).

Amphetamine

• Despite some fluctuations, at EU level both the overall number of amphetamine seizures and quantities seized have increased since 1999 and, based on the findings from reporting countries, this upward trend seems to have continued in 2004 for numbers of seizures whereas quantities appear to have stabilized (Although this stabilisation is based on all data available, including from the Netherlands; it should be noted that Dutch data are only estimates for 2004.) (see Table SZR-11 part (i) and Table SZR-12 part (i)).

Ecstasy

• After a rapid increase over the period 1999–2001, the number of ecstasy seizures at EU level declined in 2002–03 (see Table SZR-13 part (i)); but data from reporting countries indicate an increase again in 2004. Quantities of ecstasy intercepted increased from 1999 to 2002; after a steep decline to a low point in 2003, the available data for 2004 suggest that they again reached the 2002 level (see Table SZR-14 part (i)).

LSD

• Between 1999 and 2002, at EU level, both the number of LSD seizures and quantities seized decreased. However, in both 2003 and 2004, the available data suggest that numbers of LSD seizures and amounts intercepted increased for the first time in 9 years, with relatively large amounts of the drug seized in Germany, France, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Poland in 2004 (see Table SZR-15 part (i) and Table SZR-16 part (i)).