24 April 2025, Hamburg: a container ship is moored at the Tolleroth container terminal. Photo: Daniel Bockwoldt / AFP
The cocaine crisis in Western Europe has reached an unprecedented level: production in Colombia and consumption in the EU are at their peak, and the port of Hamburg, one of the main gateways for smuggling, has become the epicentre of the drug infrastructure. This was reported by The Guardian with reference to Europol.
In 2021, the largest consignment of cocaine in European history passed through Hamburg – 16 tonnes hidden in boxes of construction putty from Paraguay. But even more shocking is the fact that the prosecutor in the case was accused of having links to the mafia, which he was supposed to be prosecuting.
From 2018 to 2023, cocaine seizures increased by 750%, making Germany a key transit country. The mafia’s profits are enormous and are spent not only on Ferraris, Lamborghinis and mansions, but also on bribing police, officials, port workers, and even judges.
In Hamburg, two port workers have already been detained for helping to smuggle 480kg of cocaine from Ecuador and allowing a colleague who could have exposed the scheme to be beaten.
A new caste of “insiders” is being formed – hafeninnentäter – port workers, security guards, drivers who work for the mafia. In response, local police launched anti-recruitment campaigns, and security services demanded mitralites for protection.
German investigators acknowledge that corruption is no longer an isolated incident, but a systemic disease. In 2024, police and anti-drug officers in several states were arrested for collaborating with the Italian mafia and leaking data.
Experts, including criminologist Zora Gauser from Cambridge, emphasise: “Germany is still unwilling to recognise the scale of the problem, which makes it an ideal environment for criminal clans to ‘invest’ in.
“This is the first time that the mafia has so much ‘risk capital’ and such a powerful incentive to bribe the system,” concluded Daniel Brombacher of the Transnational Crime Initiative.
