Larger narcotics hauls reflect Greece’s growing drug problems
The drug problem has grown alarmingly in Greece over the past decade, bringing with it grave social consequences, according to a report by the Drug Prosecution Coordinating Agency (SODN) on drugs in Greece in 2000. The agency, which coordinates action taken by the police, coast guard, customs officials and financial crime squad to combat the drug trade, reports a rise in the number of users and drug-related deaths, an increase in demand and supply, and larger quantities of drugs confiscated. Following major sociopolitical developments in the Balkans during the past decade, the map of the narcotics trade has changed considerably. Drugs are now stored in or transported via countries that share borders with Greece. Organized gangs, mainly from Albania, are trying to carve out their share of the European drug market, which is dominated by Turkish drug dealers. Foreign receivers and distributors receive verbal instructions about business plans; for this purpose they are invited to Turkey, where they are presented as investors or representatives of philanthropic organizations.In Greece, routine police inspections frequently turn into battles with drug dealers.
