Another Ills of European Society

 2022.7.11.

http://www.mfa.gov.kp/view/article/15405

Recently, Europol and European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction published a report that Europe has become a global centre for production, use and distribution of illicit drugs.

According to the report, major ports of European countries, including the Netherlands, are becoming the major channels of drug trafficking. It is said that 70 tonnes of drugs were seized at one of the ports in 2020.

Also, a large quantity of drugs is illegally manufactured and sold in Europe, increasing the consumption of drugs with each passing day. The total turnover in a large drug market of Europe reached a staggering amount of € 10.5 billion in 2020.

In 2021, Europol seized 240 tonnes of cocaine across Europe – 10% increase compared to 2020. Spanish police identified a large-scale marijuana farm covering a space of 67 hectares in the first half of this year.

Recently, there is also a sharply increased criminal act in Europe as the production, use and trafficking of illicit drugs remain unchecked throughout the society.

Take the last year only. In Perpignan, France, criminal gangs exchanged gunfire over a drug trafficking spot. Also in the Netherlands, a journalist who had been tracking down a drug-related crime was murdered. Such horrible incidents take place one after another, causing uneasiness among people.

This year too, serious social unrest was caused by the series of violent incidents as the consumption of cocaine went upward. In May, for instance, the cases of drug-related murder and kidnapping crowded one upon another together with the cases where the people working in the press, judicial and government circles became subject to attack.

Drugs deform a human being, both physically and mentally, and it destroys a stable life of the family and society. The above facts clearly demonstrate that the rampant use of such drugs and the crimes incurred by them has become another ills prevailing in the European society.

It does not stand to reason the European countries unable to properly address even drug-related crimes rampant in their lands are clamouring for “rule of law” and “protection of human rights”.

 

 Kim Hyon A

Researcher of Korea-Europe Association