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From Cocaine to Captagon: Why Drug Policy Needs a Comprehensive Approach
Never before has there been so much cocaine in circulation worldwide as there is today – demand is also rising rapidly in Europe. As a major gateway for drug smuggling from Latin America, the Port of Hamburg is central to this lucrative business. But cocaine is only one part of a complex global issue: Captagon, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other illicit substances prevail in different corners of the world, fuelling corruption, violence, public health crises, and social strife.
Oct 2, 2025, 1:21:43 PM
Verena Schweiger
, German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA)
GIGA researchers Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach, Janaina Maldonado, and Dr. Jonas von Hoffmann, together with partners from the EU-LAC Foundation and the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Studies (HIAS), recently published a policy brief calling for a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to combat drug trafficking. Their approach frames containment as a shared global responsibility. In an interview, they share key insights from their research and outline what sustainable drug policy might look like. The policy brief presents some of the core themes and insights emerging from the workshop ‘Port Cities Fighting Transatlantic Drug Trafficking’ co-organised by the European Union—Latin America and the Caribbean Foundation (EU-LAC) and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in early April 2025, with the support of the City of Hamburg. The event offered a unique space to generate in-depth, interdisciplinary and insightful discussion between experts from diverse backgrounds. The workshop’s core focus was to facilitate the exchange of knowledge as well as nurture action-oriented reflections on the changing dynamics of drug trafficking from Latin America and the Caribbean to Europe, addressing the role of ports and port cities herein especially.