Based on drug seizures last year, Italy is Europe's second market for heroin, after Britain, and one of the leading consumers of cocaine, according to a new interior ministry report.
Drawn up by the ministry's anti-drug division Dcsa, the study concluded that despite efforts and successes by law enforcement agencies around the world, both drug production and trafficking ''continue to rise to alarming levels''.
What is even more disturbing, the report observed, ''is not only the danger of the drugs themselves but also the involvement of organized crime and transnational gangs who represent a threat to law and order on a global level''.
This threat is greatest for Europe and the United States, ministry experts said, ''because they continue to be the leading markets for illegal drugs''.
International cooperation between law enforcement agencies is essential to combat drug production and trafficking ''as well as to dismantle the major transnational criminal organisations operating around the world,'' the report stressed.
And it is in this framework that Italy has had the greatest success in recent years, the study said, including leading the Cospol Heroin project.
This initiative involves drawing up short-term plans to best combat criminal organisations trafficking heroin in Europe.
Italy also has a leading role in the Maritime Analysis and Operations Center - Narcotics (MAOC-N), a Lisbon-based agency which matches up-to-the-minute intelligence with military and law enforcement units to provide a rapid response to drug traffickers attempting to supply the EU with cocaine by sea.
Aside from Italy and Portugal, the agency involves the participation of Spain, Britain, France, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The ministry's report on drugs said that in 2007 there were 38 more drug-related deaths than the previous year, hitting 589.
Seizures of heroin were said to have jumped 42.96% to 1,899kg, while those of cocaine dropped 15.32% to 3,927kg and marijuana seizures fell 8.77% to 4,539kg.
Seizures of synthetic drugs like ecstasy soared 193.67% to 393,457 doses, the interior ministry report said.
