U.S. COKE MARKET SOFTENS, SO SMUGGLERS TURN TO EUROPE

LONDON -- Europe faces a growing threat from cocaine smugglers because
demand for the drug in the United States has leveled off, according to a
British police report released Wednesday.

And in Britain, home-grown criminals are increasingly expected to supplant
traffickers from Colombia and Jamaica by obtaining drugs in Europe, the
National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) said. It rated hard drugs such
as cocaine, heroin and ecstasy as the biggest threats faced by British law
enforcement agencies from organized criminal gangs.

"In the case of cocaine, demand in the U.S.A. has been fairly static and
there is therefore an incentive for South American traffickers to target
Europe, where the markets, including the U.K. market, continue to grow," the
report said.

It added: "The dominance of Colombian and Jamaican traffickers is likely to
reduce as more British criminals establish themselves as independent cocaine
traffickers obtaining drugs from suppliers, especially in mainland Europe,
and in some cases directly from South America or the Caribbean."

The NCIS identified the Netherlands as being at the center of Europe's drug
trade.

Laboratories to make the drug could be set up in Britain.

The NCIS said that in Britain, drug trafficking was still highly profitable
despite falling street prices in recent years.

"The increasing use of cocaine as a club drug is one reason for an expanding
U.K. market. It is also possible that cocaine traffickers and dealers in the
U.K. will look to encourage the spread of crack usage because of its higher
rate of addiction."

The NCIS said that while law-enforcement agencies were now seizing around
three tons of cocaine a year, between 25 tons and 40 tons were smuggled into
Britain annually.

>From this it concluded that the risks to traffickers remained relatively
low, especially when they used "expendable" couriers to bring the drug into
the country.