Iceland has already broken its annual cocaine seizure record in the first half of 2025, a sign that Europe’s oversupply of the drug is spilling into smaller markets and creating new opportunities for enterprising traffickers.
So far this year, officials have seized 58 kilograms of cocaine, primarily at Keflavík International Airport, located on the Southern Peninsula (Suðurnes) near the capital, Reykjavík. This figure already exceeds the 48 kilograms seized in 2024 and the 56 kilograms recorded in 2023.
The surge follows two high-profile smuggling cases at Keflavík Airport.
In May, two men arriving from France were arrested after authorities discovered six kilograms of cocaine in each of their suitcases.
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A month earlier, a 19-year-old flight attendant was arrested at the same airport for attempting to smuggle 13 kilograms of cocaine in his carry-on bag, also on a flight from France.
“Given the current trend, if it continues, we’ll likely reach at least 60 kilograms by the end of the year,” said Jón Halldór Sigurðsson, head of organized crime investigations for the Suðurnes police, in an interview with the Icelandic newspaper Morgunblaðið.
The primary smuggling method involves human couriers, frequently referred to as “drug mules,” transporting cocaine by air from mainland Europe to Iceland. By April, 25 individuals from 14 different countries had been detained by Suðurnes police for trafficking cocaine through Keflavík Airport, according to authorities.
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The recent rise in seizures in Iceland suggests that cocaine is reaching secondary European markets more regularly, likely due to an oversupply in primary markets. The surplus may be creating opportunities for smaller, enterprising traffickers to expand into previously untapped areas.
While the quantities seized in Iceland are tiny compared to countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, or Spain, they point to a broader trend. For major trafficking networks, sending small amounts of cocaine to Iceland may seem negligible, especially when they are already moving multi-ton shipments into Europe. But the saturation of the continent’s main markets may be creating opportunities for traffickers to channel the oversupply into smaller destinations like Iceland.
The groups behind this smuggling include both Icelandic and foreign actors, including individuals from Eastern Europe, Stefán Sveinsson, Iceland’s Europol liaison, told InSight Crime.
Using human couriers to smuggle cocaine by air is a relatively simple operation. It involves recruiting individuals to carry small quantities of the drug in exchange for modest payments. Unlike the complex schemes seen elsewhere in Europe, such as bribing port officials or concealing cocaine in container shipments, this method suggests the involvement of smaller trafficking networks with limited resources.
While most cocaine enters Iceland by air, traffickers have also used postal packages, the Norröna ferry from Denmark, and shipping containers. There are no direct container routes from South America to Iceland, so shipments are typically transferred at major European ports before heading there, according to Sveinsson.
In one 2022 case, traffickers attempted to smuggle 100 kilograms of cocaine hidden in a timber shipment from Brazil that was transiting through the Netherlands. Dutch customs intercepted the load after receiving a tip from Icelandic authorities.
SEE ALSO: What’s Behind Falling Cocaine Seizures in the Netherlands and Belgium?
But as European authorities tighten security at major ports like Antwerp and Rotterdam, moving cocaine through these traditional transhipment points has become more difficult. With increased port scrutiny and Iceland’s geographic isolation, transporting cocaine that has already been unloaded on the continent by air remains the most convenient and commonly used method.
Iceland has not only seen a rise in the quantity of cocaine entering the country, it has also seen a rise in the quality, according to Sveinsson. Rising coca cultivation and cocaine production in South America have led to a surplus that is “leading to more and easier availability of pure product for organized crime groups operating in Iceland,” he said.
“A few years ago, the cocaine arriving in Iceland had typically been cut to some extent, but now it often arrives in uncut one-kilogram bricks,” he added.
This could reflect a greater availability of purer cocaine within Europe, but also may suggest more direct connections between Iceland-bound traffickers and importers bringing in cocaine from South America, or at least sourcing upstream of the usual cutting and dilution stages of the cocaine supply chain.
Featured Image: The cocaine that arrives in Iceland is very pure and comes in pre-pressed blocks directly from South America. In the past, the substance reached the country already diluted. Credit: Jorge Saenz – AP