After hashish, the illicit substances with the most seizures were cocaine (513) and marijuana (449) and, with lower values, heroin (270) and ecstasy (77), according to the Annual Report on the Situation of the Country in Matters of Drugs and Drug Addiction in 2021 of the Service for Intervention in Addictive Behaviors and Addictions (SICAD).

According to the data, there was “a significant increase in marijuana seized” in 2021, the highest value since 2010, and decreases in the confiscated quantities of hashish, despite being the second highest value since 2015.

The amounts seized of cocaine and heroin were close to those of 2020, with the values of the last three years being the highest since 2007 in the case of cocaine, and the lowest ever in the case of heroin.

“Restrictions due to the pandemic affected various aspects of drug markets at a national and global level, although its impact in the medium and long term has yet to be assessed”, reads the document.

The report highlights the amounts seized in the last two years of cannabis plants, "the highest values in the millennium", and of opium plants, the highest values since 2009.

As for the routes, the document adds that “Portugal has been a transit country in the international traffic of hashish and cocaine, in particular inflows originating, respectively, from Morocco and Latin America and the Caribbean, and destined for other countries, especially Europeans”.

In 2021, Brazil stood out as the main country of origin for seized cocaine, followed by Paraguay and Costa Rica, with a reduction in the use of Portugal on routes to destinations outside Europe in recent years.


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