BRUSSELS (Realist English). The European continent has been hit by a wave of cocaine that US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) officials call nothing less than a “cocaine tsunami.”
According to the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), cocaine remains the second most prevalent illicit drug in Europe after cannabis. Its availability continues to rise, and the geography of consumption is expanding.
As noted in the 2026 European Drug Report, cocaine continues to “geographically expand”: the number of hospitalisations and treatment admissions is growing, and crack cocaine use is becoming increasingly visible in a growing number of European cities.
According to UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates, in 2024 there were 5.5 million cocaine users in Europe, accounting for 22% of the global total. Western and Central Europe constitute the second largest cocaine market in the world after North America.
An “Armada” on the High Seas: How Routes Are Changing
Traditional delivery routes through the major North Sea container ports — Antwerp, Rotterdam, and Hamburg — still remain key. However, as noted in the Europol and UNODC report “Cocaine Insights,” “the epicentre of the European cocaine market has shifted north.”
Belgium and the Netherlands are becoming the main smuggling hubs, surpassing Spain, which was previously considered the primary route. Dutch ports have become a key link in the drug cartels’ logistics chain.
However, the most alarming trend is the shift to go‑fast boats. Previously, cocaine was delivered in large containers, but after increased controls in Antwerp, Hamburg, and Rotterdam, networks switched to transferring drugs to high‑speed vessels while still at sea.
As Dimitri Zoulas, head of France’s national anti‑drug agency, stated, a veritable “armada” has formed in the Atlantic — floating settlements of go‑fast boats that can wait for weeks off the coast while transport vessels from South America deliver the cargo.
“This is ‘Mad Max’ at sea. A phenomenon never before seen in Europe on this scale,” Zoulas said.
According to Europol, these boats reach speeds of up to 130 km/h, and the largest of them can carry up to 5 tonnes of cocaine. The trafficking networks use professional equipment and satellite communication systems, including Starlink. As Andy Krag, head of the European Serious Organised Crime Centre at Europol, noted, this Atlantic route has become a new “cocaine highway.”
Shocking Numbers
The scale of trafficking is staggering. In 2025, an international law enforcement project with UN assistance intercepted 102 tonnes of cocaine destined for Europe.
Meanwhile, according to estimates by the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC) — the EU agency combating drug trafficking — with the centre’s assistance, 100 tonnes of cocaine were seized over the past year, but another 770 tonnes successfully reached Europe. In other words, law enforcement agencies manage to intercept only about 11–12% of total shipments.
Germany carried out the largest cocaine seizure in European history in February 2026 — 23 tonnes, of which 16 tonnes were discovered in Hamburg in containers from Paraguay, and another 7.2 tonnes in Antwerp. According to German customs estimates, this shipment could have generated “several billion euros” on the streets.
However, encouraging statistics can sometimes be misleading. For example, in the first half of 2026, Belgian customs seized 5.4 tonnes of cocaine in the port of Antwerp — significantly less than the 16.7 tonnes seized in the same period of 2024. But, as experts warn, this may indicate not a reduction in shipments, but a change in tactics by drug cartels: smaller, fragmented shipments and the use of alternative routes.
They Demand Military Force, But Berlin Refuses
In the face of an unprecedented threat, the Maritime Analysis and Operations Centre (MAOC) has put forward a radical proposal: to allow the military to open fire with lethal force when pursuing smuggling boats.
In documents reviewed by the Washington Post, NDR, Le Monde, and NRC, the agency urges EU countries to authorise “the use of force during maritime pursuit,” including shooting at engines.
The impetus for this call came from a precedent: in October 2025, a French naval sniper opened fire on a go‑fast smuggling boat for the first time in history, disabling its engines. However, this is clearly insufficient. According to the Washington Post, French maritime authorities admitted that law enforcement cannot stop more than a small fraction of vessels “due to a lack of naval assets.”
As Deutschlandfunk reports, European investigators are demanding a full‑scale military deployment in the Atlantic — off the coast of West Africa and in the area between the Azores and the Canary Islands. However, Germany’s position remains unshakeable: a spokesman for the Federal Interior Ministry ruled out the use of the Bundeswehr, stating that this is “in principle not foreseen for combating crime.”
Europe finds itself in a paradoxical situation: demand for cocaine is rising, supply is at record levels, and traditional methods of combating it are hopelessly outdated. As the reports note, cocaine will remain a problem for Europe because global supply growth may soon exceed demand. Cocaine production has grown more than fourfold over the past 10 years — to over 4,000 tonnes in pure form.
Europe appears to be losing the war against cocaine. And while politicians debate whether the army can be used against drug cartels, the “cocaine highway” across the Atlantic continues to operate at full capacity.
