Moldova is stepping up its fight against drugs through three major initiatives: bringing European partners together through the Security Hub, launching a new phase of cooperation with the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA), and strengthening prevention among children and young people through a joint platform established by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Research.
These initiatives share a common goal: reducing the availability of drugs, protecting more young people from exposure to drug use, and strengthening the state’s capacity to detect and dismantle criminal networks.
The drug landscape is changing rapidly, and institutions must keep pace. Drugs are no longer distributed solely through traditional channels. Transactions are increasingly moving online, communications are encrypted, payments are made through digital and financial tools, while postal and courier services, as well as unaccompanied luggage, are being exploited to transport illicit substances.
In Moldova, operational estimates indicate that 90 – 95% of transactions on the illicit drug market are facilitated through encrypted platforms, primarily Telegram.
At the same time, synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances continue to emerge, often proving more potent and more difficult to detect than substances previously known to law enforcement and health authorities.
European data illustrate the scale and speed of this transformation. By the end of 2025, the EUDA was monitoring 1,050 new psychoactive substances, while 50 new substances were identified in Europe for the first time during that year alone.
For Moldova, an effective response must bring together three closely interconnected areas: prevention, stronger operational capacity, and international cooperation.
1. Europe and Moldova join forces against trafficking networks
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is hosting the 15th meeting of the European Union Security Hub, dedicated to one of the most pressing current threats – drug trafficking.
Representatives of the European Commission, the European Union Delegation, specialized European agencies, and EU member states have gathered in Chișinău.
The goal is very concrete: information about trafficking networks, new drugs, and trafficking routes must circulate faster than the drugs themselves.
Moldova serves as both a destination market and a transit territory, with several trafficking corridors having been identified: from Ukraine to Moldova, from Spain through Central Europe and Romania, from the Netherlands through Germany and Romania, as well as the extended Balkan route.
Between January and July 2026, authorities recorded 24 high-level drug smuggling offenses investigated by the National Police, the Border Police, and the Customs Service.
Among the significant quantities of drugs seized were 60.6 kg of marijuana, 59.4 kg of PVP, 26.5 kg of mephedrone, 12.5 kg each of amphetamine and MDMA, and 3.7 kg of cocaine.
Cooperation through the EU Security HUB, Europol, and EMPACT enables Moldova to link these investigations to intelligence and operations conducted in European countries.
A dismantled network in Moldova can mean that drugs no longer reach Chișinău or any city in Romania, Germany, or another European country. Crime is cross-border, and the response must be the same.
2. Moldova enters a new phase of cooperation with the EU Drugs Agency
The second major step is the formalization of a new phase of cooperation with the European Union Drugs Agency (EUDA) through a Working Arrangement between the EUDA, the Ministry of Health, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
To citizens, such an agreement may appear highly technical. In practice, however, its significance is straightforward: Moldova will be better equipped to identify emerging drug-related threats more quickly and will become more closely connected to the European system for monitoring drug trends.
This is particularly important in the case of synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances, where the difference between a rapid response and a delayed one can have serious consequences for public health and safety.
Moldova is already taking important steps in this direction by developing a National Early Warning System and strengthening the National Drug Observatory. Forensic capabilities are also being expanded, including the development of analytical methods for detecting and identifying opioid substances.
Two regional facilities, designed in line with European standards, have already been established in Chișinău and Bălți for the secure storage and inventory management of confiscated drugs.
The next phase will focus on strengthening laboratory capacity and specialist expertise, introducing modern IT solutions and a digital registry for seized evidence, improving secure storage facilities, and establishing a modern, safe, and efficient system for the destruction of drugs seized by the authorities.
The sooner a new substance is identified, the sooner authorities can alert the public, adapt investigative measures, and take action to prevent its further spread.
3. The fight against drugs begins before they reach children
The third step focuses directly on children, adolescents, parents, and schools.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Research have launched the Joint Anti-Drug Platform to ensure that prevention begins not after a problem has emerged, but before a child or young person comes into contact with drugs.
This approach is particularly important given the worrying increase in the involvement of minors in drug-related cases. In 2025, 36 minors were identified in such cases, while in the first seven months of 2026, the number has already reached 29.
Protecting young people cannot be the responsibility of the police alone. It requires education and prevention in schools, timely intervention by health professionals, support for families, early identification of vulnerabilities, and action to address the online environments where traffickers seek to target young people.
This is why the Ministry of Internal Affairs is working closely with the Ministry of Education and Research, the Ministry of Health, and other relevant institutions to develop a coordinated response that brings together prevention, education, health services, treatment, and law enforcement.
Children and young people need to learn about the risks of drugs from teachers, parents, and specialists before traffickers reach them through their phones.
4. Why a stronger crackdown is needed
Operational data shows that the pressure is increasing.
In 2025, 1,347 drug-related offenses were recorded – 25.3% more than in 2024.
Between January and July 2026, authorities had already recorded 987 offenses, representing a 30.38% increase compared with the same period in 2025. During this period, 568 individuals were charged, and 544 indictments were filed with the courts.
A significant increase can also be seen in cases involving particularly large-scale drug trafficking. In the first seven months of 2026, 84 such cases were documented, compared with 44 during the same period in 2025 – nearly twice as many.
Authorities also documented 62 cases involving organized crime. This confirms that a significant share of the drug market is driven not by isolated individuals, but by organized networks that operate systematically and increasingly rely on sophisticated technologies and methods.
5. From reaction to prevention and early warning
Moldova is gradually shifting from a predominantly reactive approach to one focused on prevention, early warning, and early intervention.
The goal is not simply to seize drugs after they enter the country, but to identify emerging risks earlier, prevent drug use, and disrupt trafficking networks before illicit substances reach communities and individuals.
To this end, Moldova is:
- implementing a new legislative framework, adopted in 2025, covering drugs, psychotropic substances, precursors, and new psychoactive substances;
- advancing the National Strategy on Drugs and Addictions for 2026 – 2032;
- establishing the National Early Warning System;
- strengthening the National Drug Observatory;
- developing forensic capabilities to identify emerging substances;
- investing in modern IT solutions and the digitalization of evidence records;
- strengthening cooperation with EUDA, Europol, EMPACT, and through the Security Hub; and
- developing prevention programmes in schools and strengthening early intervention measures to protect children and young people.
Taken together, these measures form part of Moldova’s closer integration into the European security area and contribute to fulfilling its commitments under the EU accession process, including those related to Chapter 24 – Justice, Freedom and Security.
6. Faster than criminal networks
The three events held today in Chișinău send the same clear message: the fight against drugs cannot be won by a single institution or a single country acting alone.
Law enforcement must work hand in hand with schools and the healthcare system. Moldovan institutions must be able to share information quickly and effectively. And Moldova must remain closely connected to European agencies and partner countries.
Criminal networks use technology, so institutions must harness technology to stay ahead. New psychoactive substances are emerging, so laboratories must be able to identify them quickly. Trafficking networks cross borders, so information and cooperation must move across borders even faster. And because traffickers seek to target young people, prevention must come first.
Every child kept away from drugs, every dangerous substance identified before it reaches the market, every trafficking route disrupted, and every criminal network dismantled makes Moldova a safer place. This is the direction in which the Ministry of Internal Affairs is strengthening its efforts: more prevention, better use of technology, faster European cooperation, and stronger action against those who profit from endangering people’s lives and futures.
