Europe's Meth Scourge
The crystal meth drug trade is hidden in plain site across the Netherlands and Switzerland
In Europe, as the crystal methamphetamine trade grows, so too do reports of violence between suppliers, dealers, and users. What can be done do to stem the spread of this addictive drug and contain the violence?
Meth trafficking is on the rise in Europe. In Switzerland, almost all dealers are consumers themselves, with many acquiring merchandise from suppliers on credit. When they cannot pay, violence has followed. 'The top suppliers put the pressure on, and there may be extreme violence involved', explains one Swiss police sergeant. One meth user confirms these accounts: 'I was mugged at home by a drug dealer, he broke down the door, he assaulted me with a carpenter's hammer'. In Switzerland, the crystal meth trade is still relatively small-scale. In the Netherlands, meth trafficking is more prevalent - and the violence even more shocking. During one search operation, Dutch police found a soundproof torture chamber. 'We haven't seen anything like that before. ... This was one step further than we were used to', explains a Dutch criminologist.
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