Demand for hashish and cocaine is on the rise in Italy while there has been a drop for heroin, National Anti-Mafia Directorate (DNA) chief Piero Grasso said on Thursday.
In a report on organised crime presented to parliament's Anti-Mafia Commission, Grosso said there had been a 21.8% jump in drugs seized in 2005, over the previous year, and a 35.2% leap during the first six months of 2006.
A total of 31.597 tonnes were seized in 2005 and 20.574 tonnes in the first half of 2006.
According to Grasso, an examination of the drugs seized had confirmed that "cocaine continues to be produced exclusively in South America and primarily in the traditional drug-producing countries" of Colombia, Bolivia and Peru.
The cocaine arrives in Europe across the Atlantic mostly on container ships which land in Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands.
However, significant amounts were also smuggled by air in the false bottoms of suitcases, in cosmetics products and using the so-called 'human packages', couriers who swallow ovules, he added.
Hashish for the most part comes from Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar, Grasso said.
