January 29, 2018
The consumption of cannabis, cocaine and synthetic drugs seems to be on the rise in Slovenia, suggest data on the police confiscation of drugs, as reported by the STA January 29, 2018. The same trend applies to the entire EU, according to the head of the organised crime department, Tomaž Peršolja. Most heroin and cocaine come to Slovenia from Turkey and Spain.
Last year, the number of confiscations rose to 5,070, while it stood at 4,411 in 2016 and at 4,377 in 2015.
The number of confiscations rose the most for cannabis, which is the most wide-spread drug in Slovenia, followed by amphetamines, cocaine and benzodiazepines.
The police confiscated more than 700 kilos of weed and its products last year, 10.6 kilos of heroin, 12.1 kilos of cocaine and 1,737 ecstasy pills.
Peršolja said the most worrying was a rise in the use of synthetic drugs, which is also expected to be a problem in the future. On average, a new psychoactive substance emerges in the EU every week, he noted.
According to police findings, there are two types of criminal organisations dealing with drug trafficking in Slovenia: the rings operating solely in Slovenia and those with international ties.
Heroin mostly comes to Slovenia from Central Asia or Turkey through Bulgaria, Romania and former Yugoslav countries, but not through the Adriatic Sea.
Cocaine, meanwhile, comes mainly from South America through Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands, Peršolja explained.
In 2017, the police recorded 1,902 drug-related criminal offences, of which some 300 involved organised crime. This is 13.6% more than in 2016, when 1,674 such offences were recorded. In 2015, there were 1,872 and in 2014 1,857 drug-related criminal offences.
According to police data, a gramme of heroin on average costs 30 euro in Slovenia, a gramme of cocaine 60 euro, an ecstasy pill around five euro and a gramme of weed four euro.
