Immigrant children forced to work with drug cartels in growing market in Europe

Hundreds of unaccompanied migrant children arriving in Europe are being forced to work for increasingly powerful drug cartels to meet growing demand for cocaine on the continent, according to an investigation by The Guardian.

According to sources cited in the investigation, the number could rise to thousands. In 2022, authorities recorded 15,928 unaccompanied children arriving in Europe, many of whom subsequently disappeared. The research revealed that they are attracted to social networks and the promises of a better life.

European Union authorities have warned of large-scale exploitation of African children by drug trafficking networks operating in Western Europe, in cities such as Paris and Brussels, as they seek to expand the Europe’s £10bn cocaine market (11.9 billion euros). A recent assessment concluded that Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain and France recorded “several specific cases of exploitation of hundreds of minors from North Africa, recruited by drug trafficking networks to sell drugs.”

Belgian police identify the “Mocro Mafia”, a Moroccan group that includes several of Europe’s largest cocaine trafficking cartels, as well as one of the largest exploiters of children. The group is believed to be active in the Belgian port of Antwerp, the main gateway for cocaine into Europe. This organization behaves violently and has already threatened the Belgian Minister of Justice or the Dutch Crown Princess.

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The British newspaper also claims that London could be the next city, after police recently found several children from Morocco and Algeria, apparently victims of torture, who must have been trafficked by gangs of cocaine. Child protection agencies warn against using brutal means other than torture, such as raping children if they cannot sell enough drugs.