Cocaine for Germany: Drug Dealing & Smuggling

Introduction

This documentary explores emerging international smuggling routes and techniques that are challenging law enforcement efforts. A clear sign of the growing cocaine influx is that, despite no rise in enforcement checks, the quantity of cocaine seized in Germany has doubled in recent years. In early 2021, customs officials at the port of Hamburg uncovered a record-breaking 16-ton cocaine shipment—the largest ever found in Germany and Europe. The film investigates the origins of the drug and identifies those benefiting from its trafficking and sale.

The film traces the path of cocaine from its cultivation in South America, through smuggling routes that pass via Africa and Spain, to its distribution among dealers and users in Berlin. It examines how the drug trade operates, the actions being taken by authorities in response to its rapid growth, and the individuals and networks profiting from it.

Quotes

“Cocaine can boost mood and performance and it’s no longer just a party drug. Many also do cocaine during the day when work or private problems become too great.”

“There is an unlimited supply, and also no change in the market price. We have fairly constant prices for cocaine on the black market, and we also have a constant level of ingredients we are checking in samples we have seized. This means that the market continues to function unchanged, although in some cases, many tons are being withdrawn from circulation.”

“The port of Hamburg is considered a major gateway in Germany. Here, customs authorities intercept growing quantities of cocaine, a sign of how much of the substance is in circulation.”

“Four and a half kilos are consumed every day in Berlin as evidenced by residue in the wastewater.”

“Cocaine is so harmful because it makes you, as the person affected, dependent such that you can no longer complete tasks that are worthwhile to you, because you want to consume all the time. In those times of consumption, most female patients withdraw socially to a large degree, and are no longer reachable at all.”

“From South America, cocaine travels all over the world. On its way to consumers, it can become increasingly impure and expensive. The product’s route to Europe is either direct or via Africa. There, deliveries often change hands in West African states, mostly Guinea-Bissau or Nigeria. The substance is transported by container, on ships or by air, or inside the body of a smuggler. The starting price in Colombia is around 3,000 euros per kilo; in Germany, dealers charge more than ten times that.”

“The Kenyan city of Mombasa. With the largest port in East Africa, a new drug trafficking route has recently developed here. Heroin from Asia and cocaine from Latin America now often take this route to Europe, and for good reason: The Kenyan coast is long and poorly monitored.”

“This is an area with youth unemployment higher than 80 percent. The average wage is 1,050 euros a month. In just one day, smugglers can earn several thousand euros. And so, more and more young people are getting involved in the illegal drug business.”

“The search for drugs is like finding a needle in a haystack. In Europe’s largest deep-water port, it’s nearly impossible to find everything despite the most modern methods. It will always be a cat and mouse game: We find drugs, then we take someone out of circulation, but then other players find new ways to smuggle the drugs into the country again. And that’s how it will always go on. What is changing is the spiral into violence. We are tracking down more and more narcotics, and this is also intensifying the resistance. The fight is getting more and more brutal as power, along with billions of euros in profits, are at stake.”