The authorities in Malta seized over 17 tonnes of cannabis resin in 2018, almost 30 times as much as the 591kg seized in 2017, according to an annual European illicit drugs report.
The report, by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, says the 17,366kg of resin seized in 2018 places Malta in fifth place in Europe for the confiscation of this drug.
Similarly, just 0.2kg of herbal cannabis was seized in 2017, whilst 594.6kg were seized in 2018.
Countries preceding Malta in that list are mostly well-known for being Europe’s main hotspots for the manufacturing, distribution and consumption of drugs.
These are the top five in Europe:
1. Spain (population: 46.66 million)
436,963kg of resin
37,220kg of herbal cannabis
981,148 plants
2. France (population: 66.89 million)
85,400kg of resin
29,800kg of herbal cannabis
138,564 plants seized
3. Italy (population: 60.48 million)
78,522kg of resin
39,178kg of herbal cannabis
430,277 plants seized.
4. Turkey…
