Cocaine for Germany: Drug Dealing and Smuggling

Cocaine for Germany 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 significant increase 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-tonne cocaine shipment—the largest ever seized in Germany and Europe.

Tracing the journey of cocaine from South America to Europe, the documentary follows the drug's path through Africa, Spain, and major European ports before reaching dealers and consumers in cities such as Berlin. The film examines how the cocaine trade operates, the actions being taken by authorities in response to its rapid growth, and the individuals and criminal networks profiting from it.

Along the way, Cocaine for Germany investigates the social and economic conditions that enable smuggling operations, the challenges facing customs officials and police, and why growing demand continues to fuel an increasingly globalized drug market.

Accompanying Information:

"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."¹

"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 This means that the market continues to function unchanged, although in some cases, many tonnes are being withdrawn from circulation."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."

"16 tonnes of very pure cocaine from Paraguay, packed in tins of putty. Estimated market value: several billion euros. It was the largest find of cocaine in Europe. These are quantities that were unimaginable just a few years ago. Then, we were dealing with 20, 50, 80 kilos; today it’s 16 tonnes."

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

"When I realized that with the amount [of cocaine] I consume a day I wouldn't be able to pay the rent next month, that's when I actually realized the extent of it. I would have to think of ways how to get money quickly. And when it became clear to me that I was at the point that I would prostitute myself to get money for drug use, that was already rock bottom for me, my very personal rock bottom. So, I personally didn't know how I could save myself from that."

"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."¹

"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."

"In summer 2021, a journalist became a victim of the drug mafia ... Crime reporter Peter R. de Vries dies on the sidelines of a murder trial against billionaire drug traffickers. He was a media advisor to a key witness. The murder shows that the cartels in the Netherlands will stop at nothing."