Romania has become an emerging drug consumption market, connected to European distribution networks, with imports carried out via legal commercial routes, especially through international courier services or intermediaries exploiting the high mobility within the European area, according to the Directorate Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in the institution's 2025 activity report.

'We note that an important element identified is the transnational nature of supply, so that Romania, through its major municipalities, is no longer merely a transit area, but also an emerging consumption market connected to European drug distribution networks, from which imports of drugs or new psychoactive substances are made via legal commercial routes, especially through international courier services or intermediaries exploiting the high mobility within the European area. It is noteworthy that in 2025 a significant number of traffickers who introduced drugs and new psychoactive substances from Western Europe, particularly from the Netherlands and Spain, using apparently ordinary parcels, were sent to trial. This method confirms the migration of drug or new psychoactive substance trafficking from a completely clandestine activity to one that interferes with and uses the logistics of the legal economic infrastructure,' DIICOT says.

*** Small distribution networks in university centres

Another characteristic is the fragmentation of distribution networks into small, local groups operating particularly in cities with university centres.

'At national level, particularly in cities with university centres, the fragmentation and flexibilisation of distribution networks is noticeable. Whereas in the past the model of hierarchical organisations predominated, at present structured groups coexist with local micro-networks made up of a few individuals who distribute drugs or new psychoactive substances directly to consumers. The phenomenon of the age of consumers of prohibited substances can also be observed, with secondary school pupils purchasing such drugs, which is why, as a preventive measure, at least in Bucharest, a cooperation agreement has been concluded with the School Inspectorate under which specialised prosecutors from the directorate will participate in formal meetings to present to pupils the risks they face, both from a legal perspective and in terms of health repercussions, through drug use or trafficking. Therefore, these criminal structures are frequently encountered in areas with high population density, more significant unemployment, low living standards or areas with intense night-time activity,' DIICOT explains.

Family networks involved in the sale of psychoactive substances also illustrate the decentralised and adaptable nature of distribution.

Another relevant dimension for 2025 is the diversification of drug types and the increase in health risks, the quoted source underlines.

Although cannabis remains the most widespread substance, 2025 data indicate an increase in the circulation of high-risk drugs and especially new psychoactive substances, with cases reported of combinations of new psychoactive substances sold as cocaine or MDMA, particularly among young people associated with nightlife and urban cultural events.

This development reflects the European trend towards new, more profitable mixed products with a major impact on public health.

From a sociological perspective, the phenomenon highlights the vulnerability of certain groups - young people, persons with unstable incomes or exposed to social exclusion - and transforms drug or new psychoactive substance trafficking into a medical and social issue, not merely a criminal one.

On the other hand, DIICOT considers that an exclusively punitive approach to drug trafficking is insufficient to combat this phenomenon.

'Although necessary, repression cannot structurally reduce the demand for drugs where casework reflects profound transformations of crime in the urban environment: transnationalisation, digitalisation and organisational adaptability. The objectives of anti-drug policies in such an area therefore depend on the congruent capacity of state authorities, according to their remit, as well as of society, to move beyond a strictly repressive paradigm and adopt a coherent strategy that treats drug trafficking simultaneously as a legal, social and public health issue,' prosecutors explain.

*** Western Europe - oversaturated with cocaine and MDMA, cannabis and new psychoactive substances predominate in the East

Globally, the drug market continues to expand, fuelled by overproduction, diversification of substances and the adaptability of criminal networks, DIICOT points out.

According to the World Drug Report 2025, over 316 million people consumed drugs in the past year. The same report shows that the European market is marked by an oversaturated West and an emerging East, with cocaine available at record levels in Western Europe, seizures exceeding 120 tonnes in Belgium and 60 tonnes in the Netherlands, while industrial laboratories in these countries produce MDMA and amphetamines on a large scale, supplying recreational markets and festivals.

The same document points out that Eastern Europe shows a slow but steady increase in prevalence of use.

Young people in Romania, Poland and Bulgaria are increasingly exposed to new psychoactive substances, which are distributed to a significant extent through digital channels and packaged in misleading forms, often as supplements or apparently 'legal' products.

In 2025, Romanian authorities seized 3,102.47 kilogrammes of drugs, of which 1,090.05 kg were high-risk drugs and 2,012.42 kg risk drugs, including 1,969.9 kg of cannabis, as well as 53,820 tablets, 23.77 litres and 3,682 doses of LSD.

A total of 2,258 cannabis crops or plants were discovered and seized, amounting to 881.02 kg of green plant material consisting of plant mass and plant fragments containing THC.

Drug trafficking and trafficking in new psychoactive substances represent one of the most persistent forms of organised crime in the contemporary urban environment, with both Bucharest and other major Romanian cities providing a relevant case study of how illegal markets in substances classified as drugs or new psychoactive substances adapt to globalisation, digitalisation and socio-economic transformations. AGERPRES (RO - writing by: Eusebi Manolache; EN - writing by: Adina Panaitescu)