Drug gangs and cartels: How big is the danger in Luxembourg?
« There is currently no evidence that Colombian cartels have settled in Luxembourg, » said Interior Minister Léon Gloden (CSV) in his response to a parliamentary question from MP Sven Clement (Pirate Party). This was on the article “Luxembourels have long since on the map“In the“ Luxemburger Word ”on March 3. and wanted to provide information about the number of drugs confiscated in the past five years and the future strategy of the Luxembourg authorities in the fight against the drug cartels.
Specifically, Clement had asked how Minister Gloden assess the danger that violent incidents between drug gangs and cartels could occur in Luxembourg in the future. Gloden replied that the police regularly analyze the threat situation and follow the tendencies in the drug area. Cooperation with other countries plays an important role. « The risk can never be completely excluded, but there is currently no evidence that violent incidents by cartels in Luxembourg are a danger, » said the minister.
| Signed quantities in kilograms by the police and customs | heroin | cocaine | hashish | marijuana |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 1.475 | 9.841 | 3.653 | 154.294 |
| 2021 | 2.757 | 5.450 | 71.110 | 17.736 |
| 2022 | 6.363 | 2.620 | 15.599 | 227.327 |
| 2023 | 1.193 | 3.169 | 434.932 | 99.707 |
| 2024 | 1.202 | 1.365 | 24.641 | 44.488 |
Léon Gloden also provides numbers about how much heroin, cocaine, hashish and marijuana confiscated the police and customs between 2020 and 2024. Around 2020 9.58 kilograms of cocaine were secured by the police and 261 grams from customs. In 2024 there were a total of 1.365 kilograms of cocaine. The total find of 434.932 kilograms of hashish is particularly striking in 2023. As far as the ensuring marijuana, the amount of almost 170 kilograms is noticeable at customs in customs. In the same year, the police only confiscated 26 kilograms of marijuana.
Luxemburger Koksen prefers to
No conclusions about local consumption behavior
Since the confiscated drugs are primarily transit goods, these numbers can hardly be drawn about consumption behavior. Analyzes of the waste water are more suitable for this, such as those on the Clearing system in Beggen regularly collected become. As can be seen from the latest report by the European Union Drugs Agency (Euda), an average cocaine metabolite value of 499 milligrams per 1,000 inhabitants and day was measured last year. In a European comparison, the city of Luxembourg is therefore in the lower area. In Antwerpen-Süd it is about 1,996 milligrams, 1,206 in Amsterdam and 1,186 milligrams in Brussels.
More is gun in Mamer than in Paris
There is currently no evidence that violent incidents by cartels in Luxembourg are a danger.
Léon Gloden
Interior minister
Luxembourg is and remains above all a transit country for drugs, says Gloden. Both the police and the « Douane » find that the drugs that reach Luxembourg are usually not intended for local consumption in Luxembourg. Most drugs confiscated in the country come from Belgium or the Netherlands, while most drugs found at the airport come from third countries, Gloden said.
Luxembourels have long since on the map
When asked Clements whether there are plans for an international task force against drug transport, the minister replies that international police cooperation should be expanded further. Both the police and customs work as part of the “Hazeldonk“Operations with Belgium, the Netherlands and France.
