Covid Christmas 2020 triggered the use of methamphetamine, the Breaking Bad drug

The first Christmases with the coronavirus, in 2020, had a increased trafficking and consumption of “holiday” drugs, which raise the price in the face of increased demand. They were also the first Christmas in which the methamphetamine, the crystal, the dope of the series Breaking Bad and for which the dancer Rafael Amargo is being investigated.

Police and Civil Guard were “expectant” before the rise of this synthetic drug throughout Spain. “The last two years the methamphetamine trade has grown a lot. It has hit a ball. We have caught more than 2,000 kilos of glass in 2019 and 2020. Four years ago, picking up a hundred kilos was already a lot, “a Spanish anti-drug command explained to EL PERIÓDICO.

2,000 kilos in the last two years

The data backs it up. European reports on the fight against drugs show that in Spain they seized 217 kilos of amphetamines and methamphetamines in 2017. The following year, they were 413 kilos of those synthetic drugs. In the last two years, the figure exceeds two thousand kilos. Much of this drug, yes, uses Spain as a land of passage to Central European countries such as Holland and Poland.

With the coronavirus pandemic, the national police detected an increase in the consumption and “movement” of methamphetamine in Spain, according to the sources consulted. Another veteran anti-drug agent explains that in our country no laboratories have been detected yet to manufacture the goal. “We have no evidence that methamphetamine is produced here. Spanish use of methamphetamine is artisanal. Someone goes to the Netherlands or the Czech Republic and brings it to them. by road to sell it in Madrid, Barcelona and other large cities“, Explain.

From Rafael Amargo’s house

This artisanal structure, that of getting small quantities to sell, is what seems to coincide with the plot investigated by the police of the theater producer Eduardo de los Santos and dancer Rafael Amargo. The police have not found out who their suppliers were, where they got the methamphetamine they are accused of selling in Madrid, from the same house as Amargo.

The goal is fashionable in certain environments. “It is moving around a lot in party environments, posh, and it is a very harmful drug. It destroys you very fast, it is more addictive than cocaine”, underlines an agent specialized in synthetic drugs.

It is sold at retail and its price has risen a lot in recent times. Has passed from about 80 or 90 euros per gram to 130-140 euros per gram, with one last climb for the holidays. “In Spain, unlike other countries of the European Union, we do not have official the price of the kilo of the goal, because we have no evidence that it is manufactured here,” underlines a high command of the police. In fact, he points out that many consumers do not know “or how it is taken”, most of the time, smoking it in a pipe.

Barcelona and the study of wastewater

The 2019 European Report on Drugs already stated that the “spread of methamphetamine use” was being promoted in other EU countries, not only in central Europe. Spain already seizes four times more methamphetamine than France and Germany. “Methamphetamine use, historically limited to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, appears to be now also present in Cyprus, eastern Germany, Spain and northern Europe“says the European Report on Drugs 2019.

As with cocaine, several European capitals have participated since 2011 in a study looking for methamphetamine residues in their sewer waters. This is done by Sewage Analysis Core Group Europe (SCORE). They take samples for a week and then send them to the lab looking for meta residues.

From 2016 to 2018, the last year with available data, Barcelona climbs in the ranking, has reached the 50 milligrams goal per 1,000 inhabitants and has already surpassed Oslo. Above the Catalan capital, only Dresden and Budweis are among the major cities analyzed, according to the study. Below are Berlin, Milan, Amsterdam and Brussels, among others.

Leaders in cocaine

The traditional drug of the festivities in Spain is the cocaine, where they were seized 48 tons in all of 2018 (Only 25 tonnes were seized in the rest of the European Union). European law enforcement agencies have already detected an increase in the wholesale price for the Christmas holidays, with or without COVID. The Netherlands has reported a significant rise and the kilo of coca has already risen to 34,000 euros (it was around 32,000 euros months ago). The price of the gram in Spain remains more or less stable, according to police data, between 60 and 62 euros.

“At Christmas the price of coca always rises”, underlines a Spanish anti-drug agent. “They have it set up like this, they move less merchandise these days so that the price goes up. Last week the last shipments will have arrived, which are shipments that were already underway. As of December 15, approximately, Colombian drug traffickers usually take vacations and retire to rest and enjoy the parties and the revenues from their business, “he adds.

Regarding the coronavirus and its influence on drug trafficking, a police investigator emphasizes that “despite the covid, on the issue of drugs, it is normal Christmas. There is merchandise stored already cooling that is more than enough to supply everyone.”

Hash and heroin do not vary in price

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The Christmas highs for cocaine and methamphetamine do not affect other less festive drugs. This is the case of hashish. An agent who works in the Cádiz area explains that “hash does not rest at Christmas eitherBut it doesn’t have big price fluctuations, like coca or, now, methamphetamine. Hash is a more social drug, more rooted in daily life, less limited to specific days or parties. “

The price of heroin doesn’t change much during Christmas either., according to police sources. It arrives by road, it cuts a lot in shanty towns in the big cities and its price, and its customers, do not vary significantly. “For a junkie, with the ruin he has, almost every day is the same,” explains an anti-drug agent.