Drug market-related violence in focus at EUDA technical meeting

This week, the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) hosted a technical meeting on Drug market-related violence in Europe: current situation, monitoring and responses, bringing together experts from across Europe to examine one of the most pressing security challenges linked to illicit drug markets today.

Drug market-related violence has become an increasing concern in parts of Europe, fuelled by competition between criminal networks involved in the production, trafficking and distribution of illicit drugs. While the nature and intensity of this violence vary across countries, its impact can be significant, affecting communities, public safety and confidence in institutions.

The meeting (15-16 June) took place under the EUDA presidency of the EU Justice and Home Affairs Agencies' Network (JHAAN) and brought together JHA agencies and national and European experts and research partners. The theme for the 2026 presidency is 'One Safety', which promotes a cross-sector, integrated approach to building a safer and more resilient Europe.

While violence linked to drug markets is not a new phenomenon, recent developments in Europe point to important shifts: the increasing involvement of young people in some national contexts, the use of online environments for recruitment and coordination, the role of firearms and explosives and the concentration of impacts at city level.

Across Europe, there is a recognition of the need to further invest in monitoring, analysis and responses to drug market-related violence. Against this backdrop, the meeting took stock of recent trends, risk factors and knowledge gaps. The participants also examined: online and offline recruitment dynamics; social media monitoring; and responses and prevention, spanning law enforcement, justice, prevention, safeguarding and community-level intervention.

The discussions contributed to a shared understanding of emerging trends and highlighted priority areas for future work, including improved monitoring and targeted prevention. The meeting also underscored the importance of continued cross-sector cooperation and knowledge-sharing to address this multifaceted phenomenon effectively. Strengthening the evidence base and fostering coordinated responses across stakeholders and sectors will be essential to better anticipate, prevent and respond to drug market-related violence in Europe.

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