Engaged smuggling routes by Europe: How Ketamine became SO – BBC News in Serbian

The customs officers at the Brussels airport were stunned.

They opened crates from one truck, expecting to find a ton of medical ketamine.

But somewhere on that journey, white powder was replaced for salt.

After twisting hundreds of kilometers across Europe, consignment content for five days earlier confirmed the customs officers of Shipol Airport in the Netherlands and was ready road trip to Belgium.

But somewhere between Amsterdam and Brussels, Ketamine disappeared – the authorities believe most likely in the black market.

It was replaced with salt and freshly falsified documents.

Although not known where the drug ended and no one responsible for replacement was caught, this case shows more and more complex methods that are used by criminal gangs to smuggle ketamine across Europe and in the United Kingdom.

Exploiting that in individual countries is classified as a legal medicine and they are looking at it across borders to confuse the authorities.

Shipments then disappear and are sold illegally as a halucinogenic drug.

« It is obvious that criminal organizations abuse all these long routes, » says Mark Vankoi, the head of the Belgian Central Directorate for the Fight against Drug.

Belgian investigators have discovered at least 28 similar consignment replacements, which include estimated 28 tons of Ketamine, from this case 2023. years.

Some criminal gangs now earn more money from ketamine sales than other drugs such as cocaine, it told us Vankoi, describing the situation as an epidemic.

In the UK, Ketamine consumption increased by 85 percent between 2023. and 2024. years, shows the analysis of wastewater – samples of human waste from the sewer to measure the degree of use of illegal drugs.

The latest figures show that 2023. Either 53 deaths caused by the ketamin.

It is also associated with the death of the celebrities like actor from Friend Metju Perry and the Dear-Star Vivienna.

The abuse of this drug can also lead to cognitive problems and permanent damage to the bladder.

British organized criminal groups « obviously enters the new market », says Adam Tompson from the National Anti-Crime Agency (NCA).

The challenge for European police services is enhanced by the fact that Ketamine is used as a key legal anesthetic in hospitals and on veterinary clinics, just as popular illegal recreational drugs.

The BBC investigated how organized criminal groups exploit this dual classification.

In countries such as the United Kingdom and Belgium, Ketamine is classified as a narcotic.

But in countries such as Austria, Germany and the Netherlands are regulated as a medicine, which means that minor controls are encountered during import and transit.

« Everything starts for these markets and exports from countries such as India, » Tompson said.

« But then organized criminal groups redirect him to illegal supplies. »

Armed with this knowledge, smugglers developed a route.

Drug from India, where the legally product as a drug is sent to Germany, through the Netherlands and Belgium, and then to the UK.

In case of disappearing consignment at the Brussels airport, the drug was originally sent by plane from India for Austria.

He was then transported to Germany, before the plane was transferred to the Netherlands, where he was re-unloaded and saved for the road to Belgium.

And that was all legally.

But somewhere during the last stage, it was replaced for salt – and it is believed that Ketamine entered the black market for illegal sales.

In the second case, in a container arrived in the Belgian port of Antwerp verified as if it had ketamine, sugar was found.

Criminal groups also use legal supply chains, opening fictitious ketamine import companies under a mask of legitimate use, just to redirect it to illegal markets as soon as it arrives in Europe.

As many countries and jurisdictions pass, it is harder to explore, which requires a connection between police services, Belgian and Dutch police told BBC.

This also helps to mask where the position of the paravan company is located – importing companies that procured a legitimate permit.

« Criminals will between insert all sorts of steps in different countries, » said Chief Inspector Peter Jansen, an expert of the Dutch Police for Drug.

« So we find it difficult to send back steps if we find large amounts of ketamine ».

Germany, the largest European Importer of Ketamine, has a huge pharmaceutical industry, so it is less likely that large shipments will cause attention.

Only 2023 years, 100 tons of Ketamine from India was imported, Vankoi says – much more than it would be expected of legitimate medical and veterinary use.

« For legal purposes, it is necessary between 20 and 25 percent, no longer, » he told us.

« The criminal routes have disappeared, and sinks, and sinks. »

European police force say they are planning to connect to Indian authorities to try to solve the problem, and the German Federal Criminal Police tells us to implement the intensive oversight of new psychoactive substances such as ketamine.

They added that « in close contact with national and international authorities, organizations and institutions could be anticipated and responding to further development and new trends. »

‘Needle in Sena plaque’

The smuggling network brings a great prize in England and Wales, where 269,000 people between 16 and 59 years of age reported the use of Ketamine in the year final with March 2024, they show government data.

Among young people between 16 and 24 years old, the use jumped in heaven – for 231 percent after 2013. years.

« Ketamine is a very cheap drug compared to another, » said Adam Tompson from NCA.

« It sells on the street for about 20 pounds (about 2,800 dinars) per gram, unlike 60 to £ 100 for cocaine (about 8,300 to 14,000 dinars). »

The drug is smuggled in the UK over two main routes – hidden in packets sent by mail or in trucks and vans that arrive over ferries and Eurotunel, trusts NCA.

With hundreds of thousands of packages that arrive in the UK, only a small percentage is noticed.

« It is very easy to hide that needle in Sena plaque, » Tompson adds.

In Belgium, some criminal groups use Airbnb Accommodation in order to store Ketamine before sending it through France to Great Britain, cars, truckers or trucks, according to Vancoi.

In one case, someone reported as a suspicious group of men loading the IKEA boxes in the van.

The vehicle was rented, which means that the authorities could correct his previous movement to Airbnb Accommodation in Staden, in Belgium.

There, 480 kilograms of Ketamine found 117 kilograms of cocaine and 63 kilograms of heroin, stored in one garage.

In the end, eight British citizens were associated with the case and the indictment was filed against them.

And while the use of ketamine continues to grow, and the smuggling methods are increasingly inventive, the authorities from all of Europe invoke stronger international cooperation.

« The responsibility is the agency and countries from all over the world to think about it, » Tompson warned.

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