The number of ecstasy pills seized in Malta skyrocketed to nearly 4,000 last year and the popular party drug is becoming more potent, a new EU report has found.
The 2018 European Drug Report found that the number of ecstasy pills seized by law enforcement more than doubled over 2016 when some 1,400 tablets had been discovered.
The report, compiled by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, warned that MDMA – the active ingredient in ecstasy pills- has seen a “revival” in recent years.
The average content of the drug, found in coloured tablets often sold on nightclub dance floors, has been increasing since 2009, and high amounts of MDMA in some batches had been linked with hospital admissions and deaths.
Warning signs
Back in 2014 the Times of Malta had reported a drug expert’s concerns that ecstasy pills seized in Malta were getting dangerously potent.
The new EU report found that the number of drug-induced deaths on the island had actually dropped significantly, from 28 in 2016, to 17 last year – however, it warned that data collection anomalies could hinder interpretation of this data.
Malta was not alone in registering an increase of the designer drug referred to locally as “pills”.
In fact, the EMCDDA found that the quantity of MDMA seized in the European Union had increased and was estimated at 5.3 million tablets and 295 kilograms of MDMA powder.
Fake copycat drugs posing as ecstasy, the report warned, were also on the rise.
Last year the Times of Malta had reported local experts concerns that copycats discovered in ecstasy seizures could be lethal.
Cocaine mountain
The EMCDDA also gave an overview of other drug busts on the island.
The Maltese authorities had discovered a whopping 21 kg of cocaine in more than 200 busts, and around 110kg of cannabis resign.
Maltese drug experts were in Brussels for the presentation of the report and a series of technical meetings with their counterparts from other member states as well as heads of EU authorities.
Contacted prior to the publication of the report, some of the experts pointed to “developments in the ecstasy and cocaine” as areas of concern that they wished to discuss with partners.
Sections of this year’s report did not include Malta as data on the island was not available. In other sections of the report, the latest available figures for Malta were more than five years old.
Drug production
In particular, the report warns about signs of increased drug production.
On cannabis, the EMCDDA found that “European production” had to some extent taken over from importation and even impacted on the business model of Latin American countries associated with the drug.
One consequence of this, the report said, could be seen in the increased potency of the cannabis resin now being trafficked into Europe.
Maltese sewers contained as much cocaine per inhabitant as Porto, where drug use is legal, and 10 times the amount in Athens
Malta was no exception – with authorities seizing 88 plants last year – three times the amount confiscated in 2016. Just a few years ago, the police had found less than 10 plants.
On cocaine the report said that while cocaine prices had remained stable, drug purity was currently at the highest level for over a decade in Europe.
An analysis of sewage for drug content in 2016 had found that around 10 grams of cocaine were flushed down the toilet every day.
At the time Maltese sewers contained as much cocaine per inhabitant as Porto, where drug use is legal, and 10 times the amount in Athens.
The sewage analysis used technology applied in urine drug tests to identify the amount of benzoylecgonine, the chemical present in cocaine users’ urine, per thousand people per day.