By Dominique Schlund, DMC Analyst
On Monday 2nd of may 2022, the workers of a one of the most famous Swiss coffee companies (Nespresso by Nestlé) in Romont (FR) made a spectacular found: The shipping-containers that usually bring coffee from South America, this time contained over 500 kilograms of cocaine presumably delivered from Brazil, as reported by the Swiss Federal Police. The amount seized has a net-worth of over 50 million dollars, when sold in the streets. Further investigations are currently ongoing (tagblatt.ch, 05.05.22).
What does this huge seizure mean for Switzerland and its drug policy?
Figure 1 500kg of Cocaine seized at Nespresso (Romont, FR) Source: Kapo FR
First of all, the sheer fact, that such a large amount of cocaine, one of the most expensive and therefore valuable drugs, is pretty much abandoned in a container brings up some questions. For example, why did the syndicate responsible for this shipping, worth more than 50 million dollars, not pick it up? Or, how is it possible in the first place, that such an amount is not detected at the harbors either in Brazil or in Europe? The most feasible answer to both of these questions is, that the amounts of illegal drugs crossing European borders, is just too large to control it. Meaning, 500 kilograms of cocaine being seized or just not picked up at the port, is a minor issue. This explanation is backed by several facts: Primarily by the large amounts being seized in Europe every year (219 tons in EU countries in 2019). Secondly, the increase of seizures and seized amounts of cocaine every year, indicating an ever growing market, as 2018 the seized amount in the EU was “only” 177 tons (Europäischer Drogenbericht, 2021). And last but not least, the fact, that no one ever tried to get those 50 million dollars back, before it ended up in the hands of the authorities. This can indicate that it might be a calculated move by the cartels and syndicates, that some deliveries have to be seized in order for many others to be successful. Meaning, that in such a globalized world, which we live today, it is not possible to search or control every shipping that enters Europe. And the cartels are well aware of this fact. Further, the margin on illegal drug-trafficking is very large, so even if a part of the shipment is seized, the business remains quite lucrative.
This brings us towards the most controversial question regarding Swiss drug policy or drug policies in general: the effectiveness of drug prohibition. Even though Switzerland has a pretty progressive drug law, it still prohibits pretty much all generally known drugs. And this indirectly fosters illegal trafficking and thereby funds global cartels and organized crime. As the amount of seized cocaine constantly grows (Europäischer Drogenbericht, 2021), so does the purity of cocaine increases, which leads towards the economic assumption that either the European market is constantly growing or the seized amounts remain a small fraction of the total amount that actually enters Europe. Because if the increase in seizures would have a substantive impact on the market, the drug would either become more expensive or less pure. The trend of the last 10 years shows a clear divergence between price and purity, where the price more or less staying the same while the purity increases (see Table 1). The change in this trend since 2019 has to be further analyzed in the future, however, some experts refer to the pandemic as the main trigger of this situation.
Table 1 Price and Purity 2010-2020 Source: EMCCDA and Europol
These facts should lead towards some questions regarding the efficiency and feasibility of the prohibition policy. The prohibition certainly makes it difficult to have representative studies regarding the real consumption of drugs (dark figures) and following from this, also to implement feasible and effective prevention-campaigns. Examples of countries, that recently tarred down the prohibition, seem to at least justify the question about the efficiency of prohibition. A study about Portugal for example showcases that neither health-issues nor criminality have been increased since the abolishment of prohibition (Agra, Candido da., 2009).
Concluding, it is safe to say that the effectiveness of prohibition in Europe, should at least be questioned if not challenged. The reason is, that it does not really seem to solve the
problem, as the market for cocaine is growing the seizures don’t likely to affect that increase. Together with the positive outcomes, that countries like Portugal have registered since their abolishment of the prohibition (Agra, Candido da., 2009), these results should lead towards an evaluation of the real effectiveness of prohibition-policies.
Sources:
Agra, Cândido da. “Requiem für den Krieg gegen Drogen: portugiesische Erfahrungen der Entkriminalisierung.” Soziale Probleme 20.1/2 (2009): 90-118.
Europäische Beobachtungstelle für Drogen und Drogensucht. “Europäischer Drogenbericht 2021 Trends und Entwicklungen” (2022)
https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/edr/trends- developments/2021_en
Europäische Beobachtungsstelle für Drogen und Drogensuch (EMCDDA & Eurpol). “EU Drug Market: Cocaine– In depth analysis” (2022).
https://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/eu-drug-markets/cocaine/retail- markets_en – chart-id-g5MjAyOTkz-html-source-table
https://www.tagblatt.ch/news-service/vermischtes-people/drogen-nespresso-findet- halbe-tonne-kokain-in-container-mit-kaffeebohnen-ld.2286033