Cocaine Flood Continues In Iceland: More Seized Than Ever Before

Customs agents at the Keflavíkur International Airport have seized up to 31 kilograms of narcotics this year of which 23.5 kg are cocaine, which is more of the substance than was confiscated in the four years prior combined, reports Vísir.

Around 1.5 kg more of cocaine have been seized so far this year compared to the period between 2012-2016. The Keflavík customs office reported that during the first seven months of this year it had confiscated more of the substance than in all of the 21th century.

Jón Halldór Sigurðsson with the Police in Suðurnes told RÚV earlier this summer that he couldn’t explain why cocaine was more prevalent now than before, but said that the increased domestic production of amphetamines and a rise in prosperity might play a role.

Cocaine capitalism

In popular culture cocaine has often been associated with wealthy people in the financial industry and soon after the 2008 financial crash the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Iceland published a rather interesting graph that seemed to show the connection between boom times and cocaine use.

As seen from the graph above the number of cocaine samples the department found from sewage testing spiked in the high times of 2006 before dropping considerably following the crash. So, does this say anything about what’s coming for our economy? I don’t know, but it sure seems that the good times are rolling again.