Cocaine traffickers breaking into new markets across Africa, Asia — UN report

The global cocaine market has shattered previous records in 2023, with production, seizures, and use all reaching unprecedented levels, making it the world’s fastest-growing illicit drug market.

A key finding of the report highlights that cocaine traffickers are aggressively expanding into new markets across Asia and Africa.

This alarming trend, coupled with ongoing global instability, is intensifying the challenges of the world drug problem, empowering organized crime groups, and pushing drug use to historically high levels, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in its World Drug Report 2025, launched on Thursday.

Illegal cocaine production skyrocketed to 3,708 tons in 2023, a staggering 34 percent increase from 2022. Global cocaine seizures also reached a record high of 2,275 tons, marking a 68 percent rise between 2019 and 2023.

The number of cocaine users globally has grown significantly, from 17 million in 2013 to 25 million in 2023, with cocaine traffickers breaking into new markets across Africa, Asia, the report revealed.

“This edition of the World Drug Report shows that organized drug trafficking groups continue to adapt, exploit global crises, and target vulnerable populations,” stated Ghada Waly, Executive Director of UNODC.

“We must invest in prevention and address the root causes of the drug trade at every point of the illicit supply chain. And we must strengthen responses, by leveraging technology, strengthening cross-border cooperation, providing alternative livelihoods, and taking judicial action that targets key actors driving these networks. Through a comprehensive, coordinated approach, we can dismantle criminal organizations, bolster global security, and protect our communities.”

The report noted that the brutal violence and competition that once characterized the illicit cocaine arena primarily in Latin America is now spreading to Western Europe, as organized crime groups from the Western Balkans exert increasing influence over the market.

Beyond cocaine, the report also emphasized the continued expansion of the synthetic drug market, driven by factors such as low operational costs and reduced risks of detection. Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS), including methamphetamine and amphetamine (such as “captagon”), dominate this market. ATS seizures hit a record high in 2023, accounting for almost half of all global synthetic drug seizures, followed by synthetic opioids like fentanyl.

“The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has created uncertainty around the future of the captagon trade. Following the political transition, large captagon manufacturing sites in the country were uncovered. Though the discovery could possibly disrupt the drug’s supply, the latest seizure data from 2024 and 2025 confirm that captagon is continuing to flow -primarily to countries of the Arabian peninsula – possibly indicating the release of previously-accumulated stockpiles or continued production in different locations.”

“Due to factors like low operational costs and reduced risks of detection, the synthetic drug market continues to expand globally, dominated by Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) like methamphetamine and amphetamine (including “captagon”). Seizures of ATS reached a record high in 2023 and accounted for almost half of all global seizures of synthetic drugs, followed by synthetic opioids, including fentanyl.”

Furthermore, law enforcement agencies are urged to invest in technology and skills training to match the growing sophistication of tools used in the illicit drug supply chain.

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