The drug hub is a hub that is of no interest.
We like to be leaders in many things. In innovation, in research, in exports... and we would like to be in air and airport interconnections. We would like to be a hub, a site for exchange and connections in many areas. But what we are not interested in is precisely one hub that's growing more and more: the drug trade. And there are many reasons why this is becoming more so. On the one hand, because we have a long coastline, we're strategically located in the Mediterranean—relatively close to the African coast and with many hidden coves where drugs can be unloaded—and very close by road to the European route, and with very good air and sea connections, which facilitates entry from more distant destinations.
Added to all this is legislation that is viewed by both experts and, above all and worryingly, by drug trafficking gangs as more lax and permissive than that existing in other countries. And also, a large forest area that has made it possible in recent years to hide large marijuana plantations in the middle of the woods, although now they are taking advantage of abandoned warehouses and farmhouses to produce marijuana. indoorThe snapshot we provide in today's dossier is quite explicit about the situation. Globalization, which has favored the movement of people and, above all, goods, as well as an international context of increasing power for large drug mafias, increasingly global and well-organized thanks to their intensive use of new technologies, are creating the perfect storm.
The number of seizures and arrests for drug trafficking has continued to grow and is now practically double what it was 15 years ago. Furthermore, although Catalonia has always been a transit point, it has been a center of marijuana production for over a decade, and synthetic drug laboratories are beginning to be detected, albeit infrequently. The increasingly international nature of the gang is becoming more complex, and it is no longer possible to assimilate a type of drug to a specific nationality, as was the case in the past. Instead, they collaborate and organize to streamline the process by specializing in the different stages of trafficking, from production to retail distribution.
It's happening all over the world, and Catalonia is no exception. Drug traffickers are using every tool at their disposal to take control, and all police forces must race to try to eliminate a scourge that is becoming more widespread and increasingly implicated in more violent crimes. However, pressure has an effect, as evidenced by the fact that several operations have succeeded in completely cutting off the arrival of cartels, reducing the number of large-scale operations in ports or on the coast, and preventing the growth of production laboratories. But it's a long-distance race in which it's not clear whether the law will ultimately win. More tools will be needed, possibly stricter legislation regarding trafficking and also likely an increase in the number of officers and resources available to the Mossos d'Esquadra and other security forces to pursue trafficking. And, of course, financing and money laundering will also have to be addressed.
