Seizures data (SZR)
Drug seizures data
EU countries provide data on the number of drug seizures and the quantities seized. Data are available for cannabis, heroin, cocaine, amphetamine, LSD and ecstasy.
Overview | Methods and definitions | Tables
Overview of the data
The tables in this section monitor over time the number of drug seizures and quantities seized by law enforcement agencies (mainly police and customs officials), figures that are available for many countries historically over the longer term. Tables include data from the EU Member States, Turkey and Norway. Tables SZR-01 to SZR-18 show reported drug seizures by country, where data are available, for the major drug types of interest by both numbers of seizures and quantities seized. In Tables SZR-07 to SZR-18, part (i) of each table gives historical, medium-term data for 1995 to 2005 and part (ii) of the table gives a longer historical run of figures from 1985.
Summary points
Cannabis
- A slight increase in the number of reported resin seizures in 2005 continued the upward trend observed since 2000. However, this was not true for the quantity of resin intercepted, which fell in 2005, after increasing in the 2000 to 2004 period. See Tables SZR-01 and SZR-02.
- The numbers of herbal cannabis seizures in Europe have steadily increased over the last five years (see Table SZR-03), although the picture for quantities seized appears less clear, with a possible increase in 2005 after a period of falling quantities between 2001 and 2004 (see Table SZR-04). Conclusions here are necessarily preliminary as the United Kingdom, a country responsible for most herbal cannabis seizures in terms of both numbers and quantities, has not yet reported data for 2005.
- The number of seizures of cannabis plants shows a continuous upward trend since 2000 (see Table SZR-05). Quantities seized fell in 2004 after a period of steady increase going back to the end of the 1990s; preliminarily 2005 data suggest quantities seized are again increasing (see Table SZR-06).
Heroin
- Seizures of heroin show an overall decline between 2000 and 2003 and, based on data available, have been increasing since then (see Table SZR-07). Over the period 2000–2005, total quantities of heroin seized in EU Member States fluctuated within a slightly downward trend, whereas Turkey reported a large increase the same period (see Table SZR-08).
Cocaine
- Over the period 2000–2005, both the number of seizures and the quantities of cocaine seized increased overall at European level, with marked increases in Spain and Portugal. In 2005, for the first time, Portugal moved ahead of the Netherlands as the country with the largest quantities of cocaine intercepted after Spain. See Tables SZR-09 and SZR-10.
Amphetamine
- Despite some fluctuations, at European level both the overall number of amphetamine seizures and quantities seized have increased since 2000. However, in 2005 a majority of reporting countries recorded a downward trend in the number of amphetamine seizures made. This picture should be confirmed against 2005 data from the United Kingdom when available. See Tables SZR-11 and SZR-12.
Ecstasy
- After a peak in 2001, ecstasy seizures made in Europe have been on the increase again since 2004 (see Table SZR-13). The total amount of ecstasy intercepted in Europe fluctuated at around 20 million tablets per year between 2000 and 2004 (see Table SZR-14). In 2005, however, data available show a decrease in the quantities of ecstasy seized in a majority of countries. This picture is to be confirmed against 2005 data from the United Kingdom when available.