Iberian Peninsula is the main entry point for most drugs trafficked across Europe

According to a report issued by the United Nations, the Iberian Peninsula is the main entry point for most drugs trafficked across Europe. Spain is the most used of the two countries for cocaine smuggling, with authorities having seized 50 metric tonnes of the substance in 2006. With tonnage as follows: Holland (11), France (10) and Italy (5) are the countries with most drug apprehensions.The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), based in Vienna, explained that 66% of apprehensions occurred whilst the cocaine was still at sea, 11% via other means and 6% at airports.The most frequent locations for apprehensions in the last couple of years, together with the traditional Atlantic Spanish Ports such as Galiza, were in Andalusia, Barcelona and Valencia, with the drugs arriving by air.The report also confirmed the existence of local cocaine production in Spain, despite authorities having dismantled ten drug laboratories in 2006. All substances apprehended before reaching the Spanish coast were arriving from South America, more specifically from Venezuela (31% of all confiscated drugs), Dominican Republic (8%), Ecuador (6%), Brazil and Argentina (5%) and Colombia (4%). However, gangs trafficking the substances are from Colombia in 23% of cases, Morocco (11%), Dominican Republic (6%), Romania (3%) and United Kingdom, Portugal and Italy (2% each).The report also drew the conclusion that the main reasons for the rising drug consumption in Europe is due to the steady price of cocaine and the level of purity remaining high over the last decade, despite drug apprehensions being more frequent.