Organized criminal groups from Serbia have penetrated a new lucrative drug market to Russia, from where they are expanding their network of dealers to neighboring countries, according to the latest 2023 United Nations Agency on Drugs and Crime report.

Cocaine is more expensive in Russia than in most Western European countries, but the increased supply has sent prices falling, so the “white powder” is now increasingly affordable, the UN report said.

Whereas before cocaine was present in the biggest and wealthiest centers now it has spread to other smaller cities.

According to United Nations reports, cocaine reaches Russia from two directions. One is Western Europe and transport is organized mainly by Serbo-Montenegro groups, but also by Albanians who act indirectly – when someone orders them, they bring the goods.

The distribution center is Lithuania, through which the cocaine goes to Russia.

The second, more serious way is the “simply Serbian” way, which is the modified Balkan way. Cocaine arrives at Greek and Turkish ports, as well as Romanian and Bulgarian ones. From there it is transported to Western Europe “through the back door”, but increasingly also to Russia. The amount of cocaine seized in Romania and Bulgaria is constantly increasing, but so is the number of users.

The UNODC report confirmed what had already been speculated, that Serbian criminals gained an advantage in the cocaine trade thanks to the fact that they had direct contact with producers, mainly in Peru.