3003/2024/WEB 'European Drug Markets: Heroin and other opioids'

The aim of this webinar is to introduce the Heroin and other opioids module of the joint EMCDDA – Europol publication of EU Drug Markets, which is a strategic and action-oriented analysis of the information available on Europe’s illicit drug markets. It takes a broad view of these markets from production and trafficking to distribution and use. By covering specific drugs in dedicated modules, it provides a holistic and systemic perspective, capturing key aspects of the wider security and public health consequences of drug markets, as well as the main factors driving change and new threats. It furthermore provides a unique set of essential resources for law enforcement professionals, policy makers and the academic community.

The module Heroin and other opioids of the EU Drug Market Reports is an EMPACT activity (European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats). Click here to access the module.

By the end of this webinar, the audience will be able to:

• Identify characteristics of the European heroin and other opioids markets in the EU concerning opiates, opioids and heroin;
• List potentially emerging products (synthetic opioids such as fentanyl derivatives, nitazenes, etc.) as well as traditional plant-based opiates;
• Summarise modi operandi and characteristics of the main trafficking routes (Balkan, South, North/Caucasus) and roles of criminal networks involved in the illicit heroin and other opioids market (production, trafficking and distribution);
• Describe how consumers obtain heroin and other opioids and the role that social media and postal parcel services play in this in the retail sector;
• List actions to address current heroin and other opioids threats in the European market to increase preparedness for law enforcement and the judiciary.

EMPACT training activity

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Combating new forms of organised crime requires more cooperation between police and gendarmes, customs officers, border guards, judges, and prosecutors. EU institutions, agencies and Member States work together to tackle organised and serious international crime through a permanent and key instrument: the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT).

CEPOL plays a crucial role in the EMPACT mechanism through the provision of specialised training and the identification of training needs within each common security threat. Every year, CEPOL provides a comprehensive training package for each common EU crime priority consisting of onsite, online and exchange training activities.

Check more of CEPOL's EMPACT training activities here.