Equip our law enforcement officers to fight violent traffickers

Drug-trafficking networks are more powerful, faster and more violent than ever, and Europe's law enforcement officers are being sent to stop them without the tools to do it safely. Ahead of today's plenary vote, the EPP Group urges all political groups to back a resolution demanding the resources and operational capabilities this serious threat requires.

"Our officers cannot keep paying the price for Europe's hesitation," said Ana Miguel Pedro MEP, the EPP Group's negotiator on the resolution. 

"The Guardia Civil officers killed in Huelva and Barbate, run down by trafficking vessels last May, were not an isolated tragedy: they are the consequence of years of impunity and of governments that fail to properly equip the officers protecting us," said Dolors Montserrat, the EPP Group’s vice-chair and negotiator on the resolution. "Traffickers are no longer simply bringing drugs into the EU from outside. They are operating from within it, using our own ports as gateways. The new strategic framework will only work if we protect those who protect us: recognise an attack on any European police officer as a European crime and recognise policing as a real high-risk profession." 

"In 2025 alone, an estimated 192 vessels and 700 tonnes of cocaine got past us in the Atlantic. These networks change routes, use West Africa as a transhipment point, and deploy narco-vessels and narco-submarines to stay ahead of us. This vote is Parliament's chance to give the Commission a clear mandate to act," concluded Ana Pedro.

The resolution calls for more maritime surveillance and aerial support, stronger intelligence-sharing and legislation to tackle the high-powered vessels criminals use to move drugs and outrun the officers pursuing them. It also demands closer cooperation with West Africa and Latin America to stop trafficking networks at their source. The EPP Group calls on all groups in Parliament to support this urgent resolution on Thursday, sending a clear signal to the Commission to bring it to life.