Bulgarian and Romanian crime groups are increasingly investing in the road haulage business to facilitate the transfer of cocaine and other drugs in the European Union. This is written in the new report on the European market for illicit substances presented today by the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and the Europol Police Service.

The document states that the EU drug market has an annual turnover of at least EUR 30 billion. At least 5,000 organized crime groups directly involved in the distribution of drugs have been identified.

The report notes that despite drug measures, demand is not changing and supply is improving. Cocaine production in South America and heroin in Afghanistan is said to have reached historic highs.

The authors of the report recommend that efforts be made against the leaders of the respective criminal groups, as well as to improve the security of the EU's external borders. This is the third such report to take into account that the recommendations of 2013 and 2016 remain valid.