DIICOT, 25 years of minimal seizures at Constanța Port: recognised drug route, anti-drug office opened only in 2024
Over 25 years, DIICOT seized under 21 tonnes of drugs at Constanța Port, whilst Antwerp and Rotterdam confiscated hundreds of tonnes annually. A local anti-drug office was established only in 2024.
Constanța Port, weak link in Europe's anti-drug fight: 25 years of modest seizures
According to an analysis by G4Media and Info Sud-Est based on official figures provided by DIICOT and the General Inspectorate of the Romanian Police, over the past five years anti-mafia prosecutors have confiscated 202 kilogrammes of heroin from Iran from Constanța Port and approximately 16 tonnes of fruit pulp from Ecuador that "contained cocaine" — without the institution specifying the exact quantity of prohibited substance identified in the barrels.
Over the entire period analysed, from 2000 to the present, the total seizures from the port amount to 20.46 tonnes of drugs, to which are added the 16 tonnes of fruit pulp. More significantly, in 16 of the 26 years covered by the analysis, DIICOT confiscated not a single gramme of prohibited substance at the port on the Black Sea shore.
Record seizures and European comparison
The largest confiscation recorded by authorities at Constanța remains that from 2001: 8.63 tonnes of hashish. This was followed by 2.45 tonnes of hashish and captagon in 2020, 2.3 tonnes of cocaine in 2016 and 2 tonnes of drug precursors in 2015. The most recent seizure was reported in 2026 and concerns heroin brought into port in 2025 through the SOCEP terminal.
The figures become even more relevant in a European context. The European Union Drug Agency (EUDA) shows that in the period January 2019 – June 2024, Antwerp Port alone concentrated approximately 443 tonnes of cocaine in 572 seizures, and Rotterdam Port — 180 tonnes in 554 seizures. According to Belgian police communications, the total of drugs confiscated at Antwerp between 2019 and 2025 exceeds 600 tonnes, with cocaine representing over 540 tonnes. At Rotterdam, in the same period, approximately 355 tonnes were confiscated. By comparison, the Dutch port retained 70 tonnes of cocaine in the single year 2021, and in August 2023 customs officials detected 8 tonnes in a single day.
DIICOT acknowledges the route but acts limitedly
The very institution that handles drug trafficking cases acknowledges in its official reports that Romania represents a transit country on the Balkans Route, particularly through seaports on the Black Sea. In its annual report for 2023, DIICOT notes that "classic heroin transport routes from Asia to Western Europe will be maintained, with Romania crossing terrestrially or maritimely as one of the subroutes, as a transit country", adding that "the maritime route, through Constanța Port, will remain an alternative option for introducing cocaine and other types of drugs (hashish, captagon etc.) into EU countries, but also towards states in the Arab region".
A specialised anti-drug office within the Constanța Territorial Service of DIICOT was established only in 2024 — a quarter of a century after the first official data began to be collected for that port.
Iranian containers and the same intermediary company
G4Media and Info Sud-Est documented over several years that vessels from the Iranian fleet, subject to EU and US sanctions, regularly arrived at Constanța Port and invariably docked at the SOCEP terminal. The goods were intermediated by the same company, Etamad Grup Sea and Land Transport, whilst the Romanian Customs Authority declared that it had no information about the contents of shipments from Iran.
Former prosecutor general: the port is vulnerable
In 2024, the prosecutor general at that time, Alex Florența, publicly acknowledged that Constanța Port is vulnerable to major international trafficking networks. Among the main deficiencies identified: an underdeveloped system for scanning containers and the absence of a permanent police presence. Florența announced, in the same context, the establishment of the specialised office within DIICOT Constanța. A year later, the 2025 DIICOT report contained no reference whatsoever to Constanța Port or to drug seizures at the seashore.
Festivals instead of port, in the 2024 report
The DIICOT report for 2024 mentions the establishment of the Service for combating street drug trafficking, but allocates considerable space to the activity of prosecutors at music festivals, specifying that in these operations "nearly all the human and logistical resources available were involved". With regard to Constanța port, the institution mentions "considerable efforts" and the approximately 16 tonnes of fruit pulp that contained cocaine — without specifying the concrete quantity of drug extracted.
Mayor Nicușor Dan publicly praised DIICOT for fighting the shelters where homeless people are housed and for the activity of prosecutors at music festivals.
A report published in June 2023 by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA), carried out in partnership with several European institutions, shows that trafficking networks increasingly target smaller ports in the community space — a category in which Constanța falls when compared with Antwerp or Rotterdam.
Source: G4Media