Corona impacts international cross-border crime

84 million amphetamine tablets. This was the drug seizure made by Italian agencies in the port of Salerno in southeastern Italy.

The illegal drugs were packed in three containers and weighed over 14 000 kilos all together. It is the largest known/publicly announced amphetamine seizure ever.

The seizure was discovered by intelligence work and as a result of long-term investigative work directed towards ”the Camorra”, the Neapolitan mafia.

Where did it come from? It is known that ISIS/Daesh largely funds its terrorist activities with drug trafficking of drugs produced in Syria, the leading world producer of amphetamines.

According to the investigators, it is no coincidence that the record breaking seizure happens right now. The Corona pandemic has seriously crippled the internal European amphetamine production and the stakeholders turned to Syria-based manufacturers to fill the market.

The international trans-border crime syndicates usually do not send so large quantities of drugs at once because, it is too risky – but the Covid-19 and corona virus crises has changed also this under-world of globalization.