Surge in new opioids and designer drugs threatens Europe, EU drug agency warns
MADRID, June 5 (Reuters) - Massive shipments of previously unknown recreational designer drugs and potent new opioids are threatening Europe, while traffic of cocaine and cannabis is worsening, according to the European Union Drugs Agency's annual report published on Thursday.
Seizures of synthetic cathinones - stimulants chemically akin to the active ingredient in khat, a plant widely consumed in East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula - reached 37 metric tons in 2023, primarily imported from India. Seven new cathinones were identified last year, suggesting their growing prevalence.
The report also warned of new synthetic opioids, particularly nitazenes, which it said posed "severe poisoning" risks. Nitazenes can be orders of magnitude stronger than heroin - or even fentanyl - and have been linked by U.S. and British authorities to increases in overdose deaths.
The report - which compiled data from the 27 EU member states plus Norway and Turkey - stressed the need for improved monitoring and alert systems, as well as better preparedness and cross-sector collaboration to combat drug-related crime and public health risks.
Meanwhile, cannabis remained Europe's most consumed illicit drug, with increasingly potent products complicating health risk assessments. The average tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content in cannabis resin has doubled over the past decade, the report said.
In 2024, authorities detected 18 new varieties of semi-synthetic cannabinoids such as hexahydrocannabinol (HHC), which in many countries can be sold legally because those molecules are often not explicitly banned.
Cocaine use was also rising, as shown by record seizures of 419 tons in 2023. Major ports in Belgium, Spain, and the Netherlands were key entry points, the report said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Sun
27 minutes ago
- The Sun
Ukrainian PoW with ‘Glory to Russia' BURNED on skin says sick ‘Calling Putin' torture method left him begging for death
A UKRAINIAN prisoner of war who had the words "Glory to Russia" burnt on his skin said he was left begging for death. Following his release in a prisoner swap earlier this year, Andriy Pereverzev has revealed disturbing details of his time in captivity, including sick torture method "Calling Putin". 7 7 The Ukrainian POW was captured in February 2024 on the battlefield after being severely wounded. Despite his pleas to just "end it" and "finish" him off, Pereverzev was carried to an encampment where he was brutally tortured. Speaking for the first time about his experience, Pereverzev told how he was mercilessly electrocuted by Vlad's troops seeking intelligence. He said: "While they were carrying me. I kept asking them, 'Finish me off. Just end it, but they didn't. "They used electric shocks on my open wounds a couple of times, and I started blacking out again. 'They stripped me, checked my wounds…..My buttock was shredded. 'Three hits to the head with a filled five litre plastic bottle. My hands were tied, my eyes were covered. That was their welcome. I fell, blacked out. 'They used electric shocks on my open wounds a couple of times, and I started blacking out again. "The guards came in and asked us to recite the Russian national anthem. 'Those who didn't know it were beaten until they couldn't get up.' I was stabbed and electrocuted by Russian Soldiers As well as being horrifically beaten, the POW described how he had the words "Glory to Russia" burned on his skin whilst in captivity. A disturbing photo emerged earlier this month showing the mutilated soldier. The phrase, written in Russian, has been branded sideways onto his right flank in large, uneven letters. Up the middle of the tortured soldier's torso is another thick, livid scar ragged by rough stick marks. He also has a tube fitted into his stomach, and another area of major scarring on his left flank. Referring to the moment he woke up in hospital after the grim procedure he recalled: '[A Russian nurse told me] Don't worry, when you get home you can remove it or get a tattoo over it. 'I had no idea what she was talking about. Absolutely none.' A week later, when his dressing was being changed by two Russian guards, he said he "gasped" when he saw his stomach for the first time. He said: 'I lifted my head just to look at my stomach and there it was 'Glory to Russia' burnt into my skin with a medical cautery tool. The surgeon did this to me.' When asked how he reacted to the gruesome discovery, Pereverzev told Kyiv-based project UNITED24: 'I said, you're all bastards. I'll shoot every one of you.' He was later beaten up, with one soldier "poking" his wounds with his finger. 7 7 "It hurt like hell," he said. Pereverzev also described another occasion when he was brutally tortured during an interrogation. He recalled: 'One guy was sitting at a table typing on a laptop while the other one was torturing me. 'He kept hitting me on the ears, punching the back of my head using a stun gun on me. 'They asked me where my wound was. I pointed to my leg. 'They ripped off the bandage and started electrocuting me right there directly into the wound. That went on for about 40 minutes.' Following his release, the Ukrainian POW also told how prisoners would often get wired to an old Soviet phone and their bodies surged with electricity. The sick torture tactic - dubbed "Calling Putin" -- has been known to inflict 80-volt electric shocks into the genitals of captives. He said: 'It's basically a regular old phone. Two wires are connected to it like clamps, and they can attach them to any part of your body. 'Then they crank the phone handle, lift the receiver, and there is this old Soviet style rotary dial on it. 'The higher the number, you dial from 0 to 9, the stronger the electric current. 'And with each number, the power increases a lot.' Last year there were reports of "Calling Putin" torture used on suspects in the Crucus City Hall massacre in which 145 died and 551 were wounded. In this case, Russian interrogators used a TA-57 military telephone attached to the suspect's genitals. When he finally returned home, Pereverzev said he had lost 35lbs and his nine-year-old daughter didn't recognise him. "I promised her then that no matter what condition I'd be in. Even without arms, without legs, I'd still come back," he said. 7 7
BreakingNews.ie
33 minutes ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Germany to help Ukraine make more weapons to strengthen hand in peace talks
Germany aims to help Ukraine manufacture more weapons more quickly as Kyiv looks to strengthen its negotiating position in peace talks with Russia about ending their more than three-year war, the top German diplomat said. 'We see our task as helping Ukraine so that it can negotiate more strongly,' foreign minister Johann Wadephul said during a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Monday accompanied by German defence industry representatives. Advertisement US-led international peace efforts have failed to make progress on halting the fighting. Our institutions are working on the synchronization of European and Ukrainian sanctions. We are also fully aligning the European sanctions package targeting the regime in Iran, which includes numerous individuals, companies, and entities not only involved in military production… — Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) June 29, 2025 Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively rejected a ceasefire and has not budged from his war goals. 'When Putin speaks of peace today, it is pure mockery,' Mr Wadephul told a news conference with Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha. 'His apparent readiness to negotiate is only a facade so far.' Advertisement Russia's invasion shows no sign of letting up. Its grinding war of attrition along the roughly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front line and long-range strikes on civilian areas of Ukraine have killed thousands of troops and civilians. Ukraine is outgunned and short-handed on the front line and international aid has been vital for Ukraine's resistance against its neighbour's bigger army and economy. Germany has been Ukraine's second-largest military backer after the United States, whose continuing support is in doubt. Advertisement 'We want to build new joint ventures so that Ukraine itself can produce faster and more for its own defence, because your needs are enormous,' Mr Wadephul said while standing next to Mr Sybiha. German foreign minister Johann Wadephul, left, and Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha talk during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) 'Our arms cooperation is a real trump card — it is a logical continuation of our delivery of material,' Mr Wadephul said. 'And we can even benefit mutually from it — with your wealth of ideas and your experience, we will become better.' Mr Wadephul was also due to meet with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky. Advertisement The top German diplomat's trip to Kyiv came less than 48 hours after Russia launched its biggest combined aerial attack against Ukraine over the weekend, Ukrainian officials said, in an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in peace efforts. Ukraine's air force said on Monday it detected 107 Russian Shahed and decoy drones in the country's air space overnight. Strikes in Ukraine's north-eastern Kharkiv region left two civilians dead and eight injured, including a six-year-old child, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Monday. The aerial onslaughts are calculated by Russia to squeeze Ukraine into submission, according to the Institute for the Study of War. Advertisement 'Russia is continuing to use increasingly large numbers of drones in its overnight strike packages in order to overwhelm Ukrainian air defences and enable subsequent cruise and ballistic missile strikes,' the Washington-based think tank said late on Sunday. German foreign minister Johann Wadephul, left, and Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha stand at the entrance of St Michael Monastery in Kyiv (Efrem Lukatsky/AP) 'The increases in Russia's strike packages in recent weeks are largely due to Russia's efforts to scale up its defence industrial production, particularly of Shahed and decoy drones and ballistic missiles,' the institute added. Mr Sybiha thanked Germany for its contribution to Ukraine's air defence and urged Berlin to send more anti-missile systems. The Russians 'are attacking civilian targets in order to create panic, to influence the mood of our population', he said. 'The key is the air defence system.' Berlin has balked at granting Mr Zelensky's request to provide Ukraine with powerful German and Swedish-made Taurus long-range missiles, which could potentially hit targets inside Russia. That is due to fears such a move could enrage the Kremlin and draw Nato into Europe's biggest conflict since the Second World War. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz pledged in May to help Ukraine develop its own long-range missile systems that would be free of any Western-imposed limitations on their use and targets.
BBC News
41 minutes ago
- BBC News
France bans smoking in parks and on beaches
Smoking has been banned in parks, on beaches and outside schools in France to try to protect ban has come into place just a week before schools in the country break for the summer also stops people from smoking in public gardens, in bus stops and in sports Vautrin, who is the Health and Family Minister in France, said, "tobacco must disappear from places where there are children". The ban doesn't apply to electronic cigarettes like vapes were banned in the UK in June - something which was also brought in to protect children's health. Yves Martinet is the president of the National Committee Against Smoking. He said the ban is a "step in the right direction" but doesn't go far felt that e-cigarettes should have been included, saying that their flavours are used to "hook young people". The new rules do not apply to the terraces outside of restaurants and they do stop people smoking within 10 metres of schools, swimming pools and Vautrin said the move was part of the country's aim of a "tobacco-free generation" by the year said the areas covered by the ban are "places to play, learn, and breathe," not places for smoking.
