Seizures of synthetic drug 3-CMC increase in Sweden

Seizures of the designer drug 3-CMC have increased dramatically in Sweden after it gained a strong foothold in certain areas, local media reported on Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

During the period 2019 to 2022, seizures made by Swedish Customs increased from just over four kilograms to nearly 68 kilograms, Dagens Nyheter newspaper (DN) reported.

Meanwhile, seizures made by police increased from five kilograms to nearly 104 kilograms during the same period, DN reported.

"The spread of it (3-CMC) started to increase at car meets where youth gathered during the (COVID-19) pandemic," Kristoffer Halvarsson, a community policeman in Ljusdal in central Sweden, told DN.

"It is far more common than cocaine, which we encounter a few times a year. This (3-CMC), we encounter a couple of times a week," Halvarsson told DN.

Manufacturers of the drug often dilute the chemical composition to circumvent legislation, but 3-CMC and its new variants have been illegal in Sweden in 2019.