The relationship between drug trafficking and environmental destruction, one of the most alarming yet least visible phenomena of recent decades, is the focus of Ibero-American prosecutors convened by the European Union’s COPOLAD III Programme and the Ibero-American Association of Public Prosecutors (AIAMP) at the Analysis and Diagnostic Workshop “Drug Trafficking and its Impact on the Environment: Guidelines for Criminal Prosecution”, held on 7 and 8 July in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia.
The event is part of a technical process promoted by COPOLAD III, in collaboration with the AIAMP’s Drug Prosecutors Network and the Environmental Protection Network. The goal is to advance the development of guidelines for the criminal investigation of environmental crimes linked to the illicit drug trade. The workshop included participation from public prosecutors of Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Spain, France, Peru, and Uruguay.
“The United Nations World Drug Report 2025 documents how the production of illicit drugs contributes to deforestation, the indiscriminate use of toxic chemicals, and the displacement of rural and Indigenous communities,” said José Ferreira, Head of the Political Section of the Delegation of the European Union in Colombia.
The agenda included contributions from experts from UNODC and the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA). Also participating were representatives from Eco-Solve (an EU-funded project managed by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, focused on tackling transnational environmental crime), and from the project “Security, Conflict and Environment in the Amazon”, an EU initiative implemented by the Foundation for Conservation and Sustainable Development in Colombia and the Igarapé Institute in Brazil.
Over two days, representatives from Public Prosecutors’ Offices in Latin America and Europe shared experiences and challenges in the criminal prosecution of drug trafficking when it causes direct harm to ecosystems, forests, water sources, and biodiversity. The discussions also addressed how environmental crimes can be linked to or even facilitated by criminal organisations involved in drug trafficking.
The workshop also marked the conclusion of a regional diagnostic phase and the beginning of the design of a guidance document for Public Prosecutors. This guide will offer legal and technical criteria to address the dual criminal dimension of these crimes: drug trafficking and environmental offences.
“The environment cannot be an invisible victim of drug trafficking”
During the opening of the event, Rosa Ana Morán, Chief Prosecutor of Spain’s Special Anti-Drug Prosecutor’s Office, called on participants to “ensure that society becomes aware that drug trafficking also causes enormous damage to the environment.”
“Thanks to COPOLAD III, AIAMP can work on these issues. This meeting is the starting point for anti-drug prosecutors to open our eyes and work together with our colleagues specialised in environmental issues, using a shared approach that will help improve our work,” she stressed.
For his part, Ower Quiñones, Director of the Office for Crimes against Natural Resources and the Environment at the Attorney General’s Office of Colombia, stated that “drug trafficking is a criminal phenomenon that has left deep scars on our ecosystem.” For this reason, “we are going to work so that this initiative goes beyond diagnosis and moves towards concrete and transformative action.” “The environment cannot be an invisible victim of organised crime,” he said.
On the second day, Jean-Philippe Rivaud, Deputy Prosecutor General at the DOUAI Court of Appeal (Lille), explained that the French territory most affected by drug trafficking is French Guiana: “Illegal gold mining is strongly linked to organised crime, drug trafficking, arms trafficking, and human trafficking. These issues cannot be separated. Everything is interconnected.”
All participants agreed on the need to connect the work of prosecutors specialising in drug offences with those addressing environmental crimes, despite their differing practices and logics.
Drug trafficking and the environment: a shared threat
Although the health and criminal dimensions of drug trafficking have been extensively studied, its environmental effects remain insufficiently addressed. From the indiscriminate use of chemical precursors to the deforestation of protected areas for illicit crops, and the pollution of rivers and soils, the environmental damage caused by these networks seriously affects regions such as the Amazon, the Andes and Central America.
According to the latest United Nations Annual Report, the link between drug trafficking and environmental crimes has already been documented in critical areas such as the Golden Triangle (Southeast Asia) and the Amazon biome, generating cumulative impacts that require new tools for criminal prosecution and international judicial cooperation.
