The European Union Agency on Drugs (EUDA), which monitors 29 countries including EU member states, Norway and Turkey, estimated at least 7,600 fatal overdoses occurred in the EU in 2024, frequently involving multiple substances taken simultaneously. Opioids remain the leading cause of drug-related deaths on the continent.
EU Internal Affairs Commissioner Magnus Brunner, presenting the report in Brussels, warned that drug trafficking is increasingly fueling organized crime.
"Drug trafficking finances money laundering, corruption, human trafficking, violence and other forms of serious organized crime", Brunner said, adding that professional criminal networks exploit cutting-edge technology, encrypted communications and international logistics infrastructure.
Despite a more than 20% drop in the volume of cocaine seized in 2024 compared to the previous year, the number of seizures rose from 95,000 to 97,000 — a shift that report authors say may indicate traffickers are moving to smaller, more fragmented shipments.
EUDA's Lorraine Nolan highlighted the particular danger posed by new synthetic opioids, including nitazenes, of which 34 kilograms were intercepted across Europe in 2024. "Some are so potent that a few grams can represent thousands of potentially lethal doses", she said.
In 2025, 50 new psychoactive substances were detected for the first time, bringing the total number monitored by EUDA to over one thousand. The report also flagged a fourfold increase in people seeking treatment for ketamine-related problems in recent years. Cocaine, meanwhile, remains among the most commonly used drugs in the EU, with approximately 2.5 million young adults having used it in the past year alone.
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Source: PAP