A four-month investigation by the Guardian has revealed that the surge in cocaine trafficking to Europe is directly linked to the expanding presence of Latin American criminal networks in Europe, where they have forged close ties with local mafia organisations.
The investigation, utilising databases, police and intelligence agencies, along with interviews with judges, prosecutors and experts from eight countries, shows that cartels and factions from Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Mexico and the US are active in at least ۱۲ European countries. Between ۲۰۱۴ and ۲۰۲۴, there was a ۴۷۱% rise in the quantity of cocaine seized and more local laboratories processing cocaine derivatives were dismantled.
The figure could be even higher, as it includes only groups officially identified in Europe through police operations, transnational investigations and ongoing court cases involving brokers, active members, cells or operational networks. It does not include gangs that lack a physical presence in Europe while working in “joint ventures” with European mafias.
The identified groups include Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco New Generation cartel (CJNG); the Clan del Golfo mafia, and the guerrilla organisations ELN and dissident factions of Farc in Colombia; Brazil’s Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC, or First Capital Command) and Comando Vermelho (CV, or Red Command); Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua; and the US-originated Barrio ۱۸ and MS-۱۳ gangs, which are also prevalent in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and, to a lesser degree, in Mexico.
These organisations have built a more prominent presence in Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and France, while their activities have also been noted in Germany, Romania, Croatia and Slovakia. The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (Gi-Toc) also includes Bulgaria.
Daniel Brombacher, a political scientist and director of the Europe Observatory at Gi-Toc, said: “There is something new happening with a presence of Latin American groups in geographies where there’s no pre-existing infrastructure.
“This phenomenon is no longer limited to the traditional gateway countries,” he says. “Recent police operations have uncovered Mexican-run methamphetamine labs in southern France, north-eastern Poland and Brandenburg, south of Berlin. Latin American groups are also appearing in Romania and Bulgaria along the Balkan route.”
Latin American national authorities and experts suggest the list may be even longer. An unpublished report by the São Paulo public prosecutor’s office, partly based on data from the Brazilian intelligence agency (Abin) – which the Guardian reviewed – shows, for example, that the PCC, now Brazil’s biggest criminal group, operates in ۱۶ European countries, including the UK, Ireland, Iceland, Serbia, Sweden, Switzerland and Turkey.
The suspicion that Latin American cartels and factions are seeking to become established in Europe is not new. Since at least the ۱۹۸۰s, Colombian criminal organisations such as the Cali and Medellín cartels had footholds in regions of Spain such as Galicia. In ۲۰۱۳, a Europol report in ۲۱۰۳ warned of their rise. But what authorities are witnessing now is on an another level.
A Europol report this year states that “Latin American MTCNs [most threatening criminal networks] have also settled in the EU, from where they direct operations that affect the EU. This is particularly the case for mobile criminal networks involved in organised property crime.”
Interpol, led by the Brazilian federal police officer Valdecy Urquiza, has been approached, but has not commented.
The problem has become more visible over the past decade. Drug production in Latin America in that time has increased roughly fourfold to reach a record of about ۴,۱۰۰ tonnes in ۲۰۲۴. This comes after growth of up to ۳۵% at the beginning of the decade. More cocaine is now produced in Colombia than during the era of the notorious drug lord Pablo Escobar. Nearly all the world’s cocaine and many related substances originate from Latin America, particularly Colombia.
Víctor Manuel Sánchez Valdés, an academic at the Autonomous University of Coahuila in Mexico who is an expert on organised crime, says: “The main ones are the Sinaloa cartel and the Jalisco cartel [CJNG] in Mexico; the Comando Vermelho and the PCC of Brazil; the Gulf Clan and different factions of the Colombian Farc; the Lobos and the Choneros of Ecuador; and Tren de Aragua of Venezuela.”
He believes that the Latin American presence in Europe is even more widespread than is generally recognised. “Sinaloa cartel and the CJNG have a presence in more than ۲۰ European countries. Obviously, that does not mean they dominate or have large cells,” he says. “Rather, they are business emissaries.”
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime’s ۲۰۲۶ World Drug Report on illicit crimes states that global cocaine production in ۲۰۲۴ was between ۳,۸۰۰ and ۴,۷۰۰ tonnes – more than four times higher than it was in ۲۰۱۴. South America remains the main production hub, with coca cultivation covering a record ۳۸۵,۰۰۰ hectares over the past decade – three times the ۲۰۱۴ figure.
Europe has emerged as a key market because it offers organisations higher profit margins than the US. Since the beginning of the decade, European police have confiscated more drugs than American forces, and data indicates that Europe now represents about a quarter of global consumption.
Europol recently reported that out of ۷۳۱ MTCNs operating across Europe, ۱۴۹ are connected to Latin American organisations. Of these, ۶۷ have Latin American members, and ۲۲ mainly consist of Latin Americans.
