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in 2025, EU law enforcement discovered around one new chemical a week in their battle to contain illicit drugs trade.
The EU Drugs Agency has warned of the growing availability of synthetic, illicit chemicals such as nitazenes and orphines,. | iStock
June 9, 2026
12:04 pm CET
New forms of synthetic illicit opioids are flooding the European fake medicines market, contributing to record numbers of drug-related deaths on the continent last year.
The EU Drugs Agency warned on Tuesday of the growing availability of these chemicals, such as nitazenes and orphines, particularly in Baltic countries. These substances are highly dangerous — often as potent as cancer pain medication fentanyl, which is more than 50 times stronger than opium.
In 2024, Europe seized more than 50,000 nitazene-containing fake medicine tablets from 10 countries, up from 23,000 in 2023 and 380 in 2022. In total, it seized over 34 kilograms of synthetic opioids.
"These substances can emerge quickly, spread rapidly, and cause severe harm before systems have time to react," Lorraine Nolan, executive director of EUDA, said while presenting the report. "Some are so potent that just a few grams can represent thousands of potentially lethal doses."
In its annual European Drug Report, the agency warns of the growing availability of new illegal drugs. In 2025, the agency logged record numbers of new psychoactive substances at a rate of around one a week, bringing the total number it is monitoring to 1,050.
The agency also warns that people who use drugs in Europe are facing "new health risks." Overdose deaths reached a record high — at least 7,600 fatalities in the EU in 2024, mostly caused by a combination of opioids and other substances, up from 7,500 in 2023 and 7,100 in 2022.
"Drug markets are evolving at speed, with the variety of substances on Europe’s streets becoming ever more unpredictable," Nolan said . "This raises the risk: People may be taking high-potency drugs, often without knowing it."
Meanwhile, the illicit drugs market is becoming more complex with criminals finding new ways to avoid being detected.
The report comes as leaders prepare to discuss organized crime and drug trafficking at next week’s European Council meeting of EU leaders, as some port cities grapple with gang violence related to drug and people trafficking.
Synthetic opioids and cannabis
While heroin remains Europe’s most used illicit opioid, its users are an aging group and more people are turning to other synthetic and more dangerous opioids.
This is particularly concerning as Europe has "a narrowing window of opportunity" to detect, detain and dismantle supply chains of these drugs before they become "deeply established," Nolan said Tuesday.
"We have seen elsewhere in the world how quickly synthetic opioids transform drug markets and drive increases in overdose deaths," she added.
Meanwhile, cannabis remains the most commonly used illicit substance in Europe, with around 25 million European adults having used the drug in the last year.
But new potent cannabis products — often synthetic or semi-synthetic — are increasing health risks for the public and raising concerns about uptake among young consumers, particularly as they’re sold in vapes and edibles. Cannabis currently accounts for about one third of people entering drug treatment in Europe.
Shipping routes and trafficking methods for cannabis are also evolving, with growing imports from North America. In 2025, for example, authorities intercepted around 21 metric tons of herbal cannabis in each of the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp, mostly of Canadian origin.
Other synthetic drugs and ketamine
It's not just opioids criminals are fabricating: Authorities dismantled facilities manufacturing amphetamine, methamphetamine, synthetic cathinones (also known as "bath salts") and MDMA, the chemical in ecstasy.
EUDA warned about the growing production of bath salts in Europe last year, and the latest report confirms that they’ve become established in parts of Europe "as affordable alternatives for illicit stimulants such as amphetamine and cocaine."
Authorities seized higher quantities of all of these substances — synthetic cathinones, amphetamine and methamphetamine — in 2024 compared to the previous years. For "bath salts," reported seizures and imports of the drug increased to 48.5 metric tons in 2024, up by 11.5 metric tons from the previous year.
People are also increasingly misusing ketamine, an anesthetic used for sedation and pain relief, the report warns. This is particularly the case among young people on nights out.
"In some settings, particularly recreational ones, ketamine is no longer viewed as a niche substance, but as an established drug," Nolan said. "What concerns me most here is the risk of normalization."
Most ketamine seized on the illicit drug market in Europe comes from legitimate pharmaceutical production, particularly in India.
Cocaine falls, but crac…
Read the full article at Politico Europe →
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