discover the i. subscribe to documentary on too. much of the crystal meth that's consumed in germany comes from the czech republic here check police carry out a drug raid meth is also produced in other countries. there flooding the market. in. dutch drug gangs are pushing into the european market filling the gap left by check drug operations that have been busted.

this isn't smuggling it's a sophisticated highly profitable business and dutch police sees only 5 to 10 percent of total production and that gives you an idea of how much is actually on the market and. crystal meth is easy and cheap to produce and the profits for dealers can be enormous. to leave it well to discover still here we see a typical meth lab. why it can produce 20 kilograms over a 2 day cycle and on the street a filo of meth cells or 600000 check crowns cougar. that's just over $23000.00 euros so 460000 euros for that in just 48 hours the average price per gram is $65.00 euros crystal meth cut normally take it in interviews we've reached the point where people at all levels of society are using this drug in one's lucas has just become is

a bit consume it. they says rotterdam in the netherlands europe's largest seaport there's been a big increase recently and illegal imports of the chemicals that are used to make crystal meth. dutch journalist make fun felling says that the number of meth labs raided by police is rising fast since trade our own $0.03 about 20 of these labs have been identified huge labs that can produce 80000000 euros worth of drugs per month in normal hodes a lot of. mexican cartels supply

a lot of crystal meth for the european market it's pouring in with the components often hidden on board freighters like these the cartels have also sent their own meth cooks to europe to make the stuff. like a study on beginning of it's crystal meth and it's extremely important for us to monitor developments in the crystal meth market very closely and of like ok you know it's we're not talking about small time cocaine or marijuana distributors here . these are the mexican cartels. and when they get into a market there's a big increase in drug production and drug related violence here for we've seen that in mexico and they're moving into the market here. and so as far as crystal meth is concerned the warning signals are flashing throughout europe where crystal meth a needle. in june 29002500 kilograms of crystal meth were seized at the port of rotterdam the largest drug bust of its kind in europe.

this is the bavarian city of pasto we've come here to meet drug counsellor junia's clean. from 2003 until he retired last year clinic was in charge of a therapy center that's affiliated with the catholic diocese of passout. he says there's been a big increase over the last decade in the number of people who've come to the center for help. the situation is serious in fact it's alarming we've even had a few deaths recently that puts 3 defining. when creek walks through parts of town known for drug activity he can often grade some of the people there by name. the number of addicts who've come to the century is increasing 20 years ago click

had just a handful of clients 3 years ago there were 80 and now the number has risen to well over 100. and those are just the statistics from one counseling center. how good is the consummate com no one who uses crystal meth comes to my office on their own and asks me for help. all of our clients have been ordered to get counseling and a prosecutor will tell them sign up for a treatment program or go to jail but those people are just the tip of the iceberg well this is a huge problem is there power to be a police excited. but few people aside from you are sounding the alarm about crystal meth abuse in the past. to her give us insight from is when things calm down a bit when a lot of people come to the mistaken conclusion that the situation is under control

. as far as i'm concerned that's an indication that this drug has become part of everyday life in our communities and people just aren't concerned about it anymore if that's true and let me read some team or government. but public apathy doesn't mean that the problem is any less serious now we're going to introduce you to a local resident who's been using crystal meth for 6 years. we've agreed to conceal his identity he says he even goes to work when he's high. my boss doesn't have a problem with me using drugs he doesn't know that i also use them on the job sometimes when i've been taking drugs i'll be late for work but the boss doesn't seem to mind because i always do a great job. he estimates that about 20 percent of the

people in his hometown he was crystal meth. many of those who've taken the drug say that it gives them a rush of energy makes them more alert and enhances their overall performance. we've come to the bavarian town of by a light to me to addiction therapist hold on tablet petri he's been working with crystal meth users for 3 decades including single mothers skilled workers and business managers he explains why people can quickly become addicted to this drug. is a crystal the crystal meth that sold on the street can be up to 90 percent pure a 1st time user who inhales $80.00 to $100.00 milligrams of the drug at that level of purity will soon experience a sense of euphoria which is the maximum you could use with a few days of heavy crystal meth triggers the release of several chemicals in the brain that make people feel good cause and they keep taking the drug because they

want this sensation to last the studio wanted to see how. but these feelings of euphoria are deceptive users often find that they need more and more crystal meth to achieve the same level of stimulation. and once the drug wears off they will likely experience withdrawal symptoms. just not through moon's shock because the big problem with crystal meth is that it's neuro toxic. that is it damages the nervous system it's what you call chronic meth abuse can reduce the amount of chemicals in the brain that make us feel good this is because this can lead to fatigue and even depression just for believes the past even once in a hit if you keep using this stuff you'll eventually build up a tolerance so you have to take

a larger amounts to try to get high and eventually you get to the point where it just doesn't give you that rush anymore you feel burned out all the time you can't feel anything anymore. this is the czech capital prague crystal meth has been produced here for decades even during the cold war and after the fall of the berlin wall in 1989 production increase chaplin and distributors began exporting their drugs to germany these days czechs and vietnamese immigrants produce an estimated 10 tons of crystal meth every year a lot of it is shipped to neighboring germany. the national czech police have created a special division to combat drug crime the division's director is. he

says he and his officers face an enormous challenge. one of their main tasks is to chip away at the production of crystal meth as part of that effort police have raided more than 200 drug labs over the last 5 years but as soon as they shut down one lab another one opens up somewhere else. yet. it's also all so the the situation has changed recently yes my use portugal me to walk out of people who just we're seeing that large organized crime groups which are made up mostly of be at mommy's immigrants are shifting large scale production of crystal meth to other countries. to me. body anything over 51015 or 20 kilograms is now produced outside the czech republic.

not was i mean ixtapa. in some raids officers have seized up to a ton of crystal meth but this work often involves cross border co-operation with police in other countries. it works closely with european customs author already is and the european law enforcement agency europol. and there's a new factor that's complicating the effort. the news was that we mexican drug cartels are now setting up operations in the netherlands. here fleet which conducts an inspection tour along the czech german border. he explains that the mexican cartels have moved into the european market for crystal meth mostly because the czech government has cracked down hard on local drug dealers. freight lease department has been expanded over the past several years and they're making

life difficult for those who produce and distribute crystal meth in the czech republic so the mexicans have stepped in to fill the gaps their network even includes some of the vietnamese immigrants who used to make their own meth. dutch dealers used to earn a lot of money by selling drugs like ecstasy or amphetamines known as speed but now they can make even more by selling crystal meth. fleetly says that the mexican cartels have priced the vietnamese right out of the market thanks to low overhead. will be able they can offer lower prices because they create so much product we're talking about hundreds of kilos of crystal meth even tons of it. they don't produce the stuff here because there's not

much local demand for. people used math quite a bit in the early 1990 s. but not today certainly not enough to justify massive levels of production with all that. times are tough for small vietnamese shops along the czech german border particularly those that can supplement their income by selling crystal meth not many people come here to buy drugs anymore these days they're often delivered by a quarry or or people order drugs on the dark web and they arrive in the mail regardless of the method an estimated 5 tons of crystal meth reaches the german border region every year. roughly the same amount stays in the czech republic itself police managed to confiscate only about $100.00 kilos of it per year and despite what some officials say this country does have

a serious problem with crystal meth addiction an estimated 35000 people are hooked on the drug. local producers are losing market share to meth that's shipped in from the netherlands and they're facing increased pressure from the german akshaye police. law enforcement agencies from both countries have been working closely together since 2007 when border controls were relaxed under the shannon agreement the joint center for german czech police and customs cooperation is located in the town of shand off the area this facility is staffed around the clock officers exchange data follow up leads on drug cases organized searches and make arrests. all this information flows into the data bank at regional police headquarters in 3.

detective chief superintendent christopher wasn't bagus says that crystal meth is a problem here but other drugs pose more of a threat. but it's interesting the infamous based on our statistics the drugs that are seized most often by our officers are heroin and cannabis. they also represent the largest quantities of the drugs that are confiscated. we carry out fewer raids that involve crystal meth and we seize smaller amounts of. megan. in 2019 just under 2 kilograms of crystal meth were seized in this part of the very have that was about middle of the pack among the various 7 administrative districts . regardless of the statistics the various health ministry has recently reported an increase in drug related deaths and drug users who've signed up for outpatient

treatment how can we explain this discrepancy. is in or does his fate as it does with the only drug cases that we hear about are the ones where the police get involved. and criminology and sociology experts make a distinction between crimes that are reported and those that aren't. so if police make a lot of drug arrests that will show up in the crime statistics and that's good. but if the police stopped investigating drug cases altogether the number of arrests would drop to 0 and the politicians would say that's good positive. police resources are stretched to the limit the authorities simply don't have the money or the person now to track down everyone who produces and distributes crystal meth so criminal are going to. they shuns like the mexican cartels feel free to move in but that may change soon. you know. over the last several

years some german states have tried to add personnel where they can. the federal government has agreed to help state governments to do that but it's a slow process as i'm talking about us and police have lots of other priorities right now besides drug crimes. they also have to keep track of serious problems like islamist terrorism and right wing extremism extremist muslim terrorist most. so the effort to crack down on the use of crystal meth is pretty far down the list of police priorities meanwhile authorities have come up with an unusual new way to monitor the use of illegal drugs it involves analysis of sewage. the european anti-drug agency has been working with the score group since 2011 to

monitor of waste water for traces of only said substances several german cities are taking part. here at the sewage treatment plant in nuremberg an employee collect samples that will then be sent to the score analysis center in dresden the results will help the authorities quantify the scope of drug abuse. the latest samples from nuremberg indicate that consumption of crystal meth has jumped 30 percent since 2017 lots of people are able to buy the drug despite the restrictions imposed because of the covert pandemic the study also shows high rates of meth consumption in the german states of the varia the range and saxony but where are the drugs coming from. cish invoked the full ayatollah as crystal put it in the minds of the netherlands is moving ahead of the czech

republic and the production of crystal meth will find this farm behind for discus that's clear from the statistics for the number of drug seizures particularly in the german state of north rhine-westphalia for this brutal and blind this far and preliminary analysis indicates that the drugs were shipped from there to major german cities. left production facilities in the netherlands have done what the checks were never able to do flood big cities in western and central germany with large quantities of crystal meth. german authorities are calling for decisive action. called us coastal because. this is an open wound as far as crystal meth is concerned with it and i hope that we'll be able to cooperate more closely with our dutch colleagues and tomorrow. they've indicated that they're willing to help us divide they don't want the netherlands to become the new center for meth

production and they're ready to take action to do that because 2 marked to come from dutch authorities often look the other way when it comes to the use of machine and marijuana but the last thing that they want is a new crystal meth industry run by mexican cartels. we're dealing with violent organized crime groups that distribute drugs on an international scale i think it would be naive to believe that we can solve this problem by legalizing these drugs as i said we have to strengthen our efforts to stop these groups that includes taking away the profits they make from selling drugs. and drafting laws aimed at preventing money laundering as part of a larger overall strategy that proceeds of teams to. 'd new develop. and said international drug production and distribution require new law enforcement

strategies among sebastiani fiedler is top priorities at the creation of investigative units that target crime groups and national centers for crime prevention. cities that have a meth problem would benefit from a national strategy on preventing drug addiction and drug abuse counsellors would also welcome this development. not about victim unfounded the counseling center in november in 1980 today 20 percent of the people who come to him for help are addicted to crystal meth he says treatment should also be part of an overall preventive strategy. we've seen this is you just you know to get so just one that if. the cost of addiction in our society is huge hundreds of billions a year. and in that calculation you have to include the cost of people who lose their jobs or go into treatment or end up in jail. and dense crystal meth abuse

moves into the middle class more and more people will be affected and that will push up the costs to to call for medicine in an attempt at smoking in preschool nowadays you can buy meth on the web and it'll be in your mailbox the next day. so we have to find the people who are using those sites and offer them help. but to do that we need a digital infrastructure. that includes technical experts but all that will cost a lot of money and we just can't seem to find it again fishless nutrient hitmen knows that most politicians don't consider drug counseling to be a top priority. the mexican cartels offer technical support to the crews in holland that are making crystal meth. experts estimate that about 2 thirds

of all the method seized by police in germany is now produced in the netherlands. in. reform t.v. show the cartels have been active in this market for the last decade and now they've become really powerful stuff we need to do a lot more to keep them in check there the dutch government is trying to find new ways to stop the spread of illegal drugs but they have a lot of catching up to do which is that adding in the neighboring countries are not exactly satisfied with the job we've done so far. the dutch authorities don't really want to talk about the situation but will. drug abuse is a sensitive topic in the netherlands so it's no wonder that police are reluctant to talk about it. and they laws haven't really been historial synthetic drugs are part of our recent history that we started with amphetamines in the 1970 s.

continued with ecstasy and now we've got a problem with crystal meth and the cartels. in mexico. and. the netherlands is ideally located for importing the raw materials that are used to make the drugs and there are 2 big ports here rotterdam and antwerp where the gateway to europe and that's why the cartels want to take over this market. and if you're caught making drugs the penalties aren't very stiff just a few years in jail it's an ideal situation for the cartels. the cartels earn about 20000000000 euros a year from the sale of synthetic drugs the profit margins are huge because the mexicans import cheap chemicals from asia to make the stuff. as the power of the cartels increases police have reported a surge in contract murders assaults and have found drug labs in remote locations

in may 2020 dutch police raided a lab and seized chemicals and crystal meth worth an estimated 10000000 euros. the lab was located on a farm near a village just 20 kilometers from the german border police arrested several suspects including one each from mexico colombia and the united states. the raid was successful because dutch investigators had worked with police agencies in other countries. to track the crooks a special police unit kept the suspects under constant surveillance and a lot of hard work finally paid off. i flick hope that. the investigation and the run up to the raid took several months. police managed to

break into the criminals phones and decrypt their messages. to the gods this allowed investigators in france germany and the netherlands to monitor their conversations for months. but will this kind of international cooperation be enough to stop the spread of crystal meth. the visa admission de botton does invite read through the policy documents of all the major political parties and they seem to be focused on how to fight the use of cannabis find politicians think it's a sexy topic and there are no proposals for dealing with more dangerous drugs like crystal meth image even crystal meth and i'm going hopping toward. the last seen child in the straight shot we have to confront this problem head on let's talk to the people who are actually using drugs and offer them counseling as part of an overall preventive strategies or 2 to fish to 3 vinci code he said told us and i

mean listen it can mock truants mentioned dissidents who these drugs are ruining people's lives. we can't ignore this kind of drug abuse and tell ourselves that everything's fine just let people keep trying these drugs and then they become addicted to drug abuse can destroy families people can lose their jobs because of it and some users end up in the psychiatric wards and some users end up dead it's a serious problems isn't it. criminal groups are simply providing huzoor is with the drugs that they want to buy perhaps we should focus on how to keep people from taking drugs in the 1st place. i don't want to keep using crystal meth forever it just ruins your life you can't ignore the effect it has on your mind and body it makes you paranoid about

things that no one else would notice. more and more people in here or are using crystal meth we have to deal with this problem before it gets any worse and the best way to do that is to develop a comprehensive prevention strategy that combines effective police measures with counselling in treatment for drug users who may be a race. 1986

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