Large increase in cocaine trafficking from Latin America to Turkey

The UN International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) 2022 report reveals that Turkey is used as a transit point for many drugs to reach the Middle East and European markets. According to the report, the amount of cocaine seized in Turkey last year reached a record high of 2.8 tons, an increase of 42 percent compared to the previous year.

Following the arrests of Isaac Bignan, the leader of the international drug gang known as the Cocaine Baron of Europe, in Isparta, and Antony Finix, who led the cartel’s armed wing, in Istanbul, and the detention of many Turkish citizens linked to the organization, attention has once again focused on Turkey’s role in the cocaine trade from Latin America, VOA Turkish reported.

The latest United Nations (UN) global report on cocaine shows that the amount of cocaine seized in Turkey increased sevenfold between 2014 and 2021, but the severity of the situation becomes even more apparent when drugs seized before they can be sent to Turkey are taken into account. VOA notes that in recent years there has been a significant increase in the amount of cocaine intercepted in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Panama, Brazil and Ecuador while being shipped to Turkey.

The report, which notes that new routes are being sought as a result of increased controls in cocaine-producing countries, cites lack of inspection and opportunities for corruption as one of the reasons for Turkey’s growing role in drug shipments. In addition, according to Insight Crime, a Colombia-based research institute on global organized crime and drug trafficking, the experience of Turkish drug traffickers in heroin trafficking and smuggling from Asia to Europe, and their connections with organized crime syndicates in Asia and Europe, offer significant opportunities for cocaine trafficking.