idw – Informationsdienst Wissenschaft
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Never before has there been so much cocaine in circulation worldwide as there is today – demand is also rising rapidly in Europe. As a major gateway for drug smuggling from Latin America, the Port of Hamburg is central to this lucrative business. But cocaine is only one part of a complex global issue: Captagon, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other illicit substances prevail in different corners of the world, fuelling corruption, violence, public health crises, and social strife.
GIGA researchers Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach, Janaina Maldonado, and Dr. Jonas von Hoffmann, together with partners from the EU-LAC Foundation and the Hamburg Institute for Advanced Studies (HIAS), recently published a policy brief calling for a comprehensive and coordinated strategy to combat drug trafficking. Their approach frames containment as a shared global responsibility.
In an interview, they share key insights from their research and outline what sustainable drug policy might look like.
The policy brief presents some of the core themes and insights emerging from the workshop ‘Port Cities Fighting Transatlantic Drug Trafficking’ co-organised by the European Union—Latin America and the Caribbean Foundation (EU-LAC) and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) in early April 2025, with the support of the City of Hamburg. The event offered a unique space to generate in-depth, interdisciplinary and insightful discussion between experts from diverse backgrounds. The workshop’s core focus was to facilitate the exchange of knowledge as well as nurture action-oriented reflections on the changing dynamics of drug trafficking from Latin America and the Caribbean to Europe, addressing the role of ports and port cities herein especially.
Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach
https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/the-giga/team/kurtenbach-sabine
sabine.kurtenbach@giga-hamburg.de
Janaina Maldonado Guerra da Cunha
https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/the-giga/team/maldonado-guerrada-cunha-janaina
janaina.maldonado@giga-hamburg.de
Dr. Jonas von Hoffmann
https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/the-giga/team/von-hoffmann-jonas
jonas.vonhoffmann@giga-hamburg.de
Drugs, Ports and Other Challenges: In Need of a Comprehensive and Coordinated Multilevel Strategy
https://eulacfoundation.org/sites/default/files/2025-09/policy-brief-no12-en.pdf
https://www.giga-hamburg.de/en/press/from-cocaine-to-captagon-why-drug-policy-ne... Interview with GIGA researchers Prof. Dr. Sabine Kurtenbach, Janaina Maldonado, and Dr. Jonas von Hoffmann
Criteria of this press release:
Business and commerce, Journalists
Economics / business administration, Politics
transregional, national
Research results, Transfer of Science or Research
English
You can combine search terms with and, or and/or not, e.g. Philo not logy.
You can use brackets to separate combinations from each other, e.g. (Philo not logy) or (Psycho and logy).
Coherent groups of words will be located as complete phrases if you put them into quotation marks, e.g. “Federal Republic of Germany”.
You can also use the advanced search without entering search terms. It will then follow the criteria you have selected (e.g. country or subject area).
If you have not selected any criteria in a given category, the entire category will be searched (e.g. all subject areas or all countries).
