DRUG ROUTES
How Amapá became the Amazon's new cocaine exit to Europe
Port of Santana. Photo: Antaq
Portuguese authorities had seized 42 tonnes of cocaine by October 20, 17 tonnes more than in all of 2025, according to the head of the Polícia Judiciária. Portugal set records in 2024 and 2025 as well, at 23 and 25 tonnes.
Seizure totals measure enforcement as much as traffic. The origins of the biggest loads say more about where the cocaine is coming from. The largest of 2026, nearly nine tonnes recovered from a semi-submersible off the Azores in January, came from South America, police said, without naming a port.
The previous record for a narco-submarine in European waters has a traced origin…
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