New solutions are being sought in combating the drug trade, a trade where Estonia is mostly a major transit nation for other markets; the solutions include drug amnesties where new varieties of narcotics can be handed in anonymously.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and law enforcement agencies, the narcotics market in Estonia has become more fragmented and diverse than ever before.

A significant share of the supply and distribution of narcotics takes place within the digital environment, mainly via social media and encrypted communication channels. This mode of operation takes away much of the visibility that would be seen with dealing in the public space and makes it harder for law enforcement to detect crimes.

The Police and Border Guard Board (PPA) has anyway been curbing drug crime in several digital channels, including apps such as Telegram, Snapchat, Signal, Session, as well as closed groups on Facebook and Instagram.

Drug dealers operating on social media mainly use two methods: They either use public or semi-public chat rooms where interest in purchasing can be expressed and contact is then established via private messaging. Automated bot-based solutions are also being used, where there is no direct human contact, while transactions are conducted using cryptocurrency, including by transmitting the coordinates of "dead drops" – meaning the location to pick up the drugs.

Also, there have been cases of drug dealing being advertised in physical spaces via QR codes on display.

Some of the groups operate in Estonia and the other two Baltic states. The identification of criminal networks is a complex matter, however, thanks among other things to the use of Virtual Private Network (VPN) services and the fragmented nature of activities more generally.

Telegram in particular had posed a major challenge, as until recently the service provider did not screen for prohibited content put up by its users.

As of now, Telegram has been more cooperative in this regard and closes down channels found to contain prohibited content, but in that case the criminal channels often move to new addresses.

Website closures are done primarily through "Veebipolitseinik" web constables, who, as their name suggests, work primarily online, and in cooperation with the social media platforms, some of whose service providers (for example Meta products like Facebook) also have automated monitoring of prohibited content.

The PPA says it does not collect separate statistics on how many criminal proceedings relate specifically to electronic channels, nor has there been any separate documentation of how many drug-related websites, encrypted communication channels and social media accounts have been closed down.

More positively, the Ministry of the Interior has highlighted the earlier preventive activities of the PPA's North Prefecture concerning the so-called dark web, with the result that the drug trade between and among Estonian criminals has fallen significantly, the ministry says. This has had the result that, unlike in many other countries, Estonia-based criminal networks are now opting to use the regular web and social media instead.

Around 100 overdose deaths per year

Between 2018 and 2021, an average of 30–40 people per year died in Estonia as a result of drug overdoses; then in 2022 this number doubled to nearly 80, and has since risen further still to over 100, where it has remained. For instance, 113 drug overdose deaths were registered in 2023; 100 deaths in 2024.

Based on toxicology data from the Estonian Forensic Science Institute (Eesti Kohtuekspertiisi Instituut), the share of potent synthetic opioids — especially nitazenes — behind overdose deaths has risen significantly in recent years.

The wider spread of nitazenes has been one of the main factors in the sharp rise in drug overdoses in Estonia, as their effects are particularly harsh and those who have overdosed on nitazenes often show a lower response to life-saving treatments than in the case of other opioids.

Nitazene-related substances are linked to nearly half of drug overdose deaths, though it needs to be taken into account that overdose deaths often involve the simultaneous use of multiple substances. This in turn increases the risk of death, the ministry noted.

Police monitoring drug trade on social media

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the new nature of the drug market requires a gradual increase in analytical capacities, given that an increasing share of activity takes place within the digital ecosystem. Social media currently only gets monitored mainly within the framework of specific proceedings.

The ministry acknowledged that technical and analytical capacities are a good thing, but given the rapid development of technology and the constant evolution of drug distribution methods, there is a need for continuous training and the development of technical capabilities.

Proceedings follow a case-by-case basis approach, focusing on identifying sellers and their networks of contacts. Across the PPA nationwide, priority is given to individuals known to be involved in distributing life-threatening substances, operating in large quantities or involved in offering drugs to minors.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the key limitation is not so much technical capabilities as the existing legal framework, including EU data protection requirements, which do not allow the broad processing of mass data.

Drug networks from Latvia, Lithuania have greatest impact on Estonia

Organized crime in Estonia is most affected by drug and cybercrime as well as online fraud. Most criminal organizations operating in Estonia generate income from drug crimes, facilitated by high demand and supply on the European market.

Drug trafficking into Estonia is primarily influenced by criminal networks based in nearby Latvia and Lithuania and, to a lesser extent, in Poland. The role of other countries is more indirect and generally relates to the acquisition of substances from the rest of Europe.

"Cooperation is also carried out at the ministerial level. For example, a meeting recently took place with Latvian colleague Rihards Kozlovskis to discuss cooperation in combating cross-border crime, especially drug smuggling," the Estonian Interior Ministry stated.

While there are currently no known narcotics production labs in Estonia, the risk of their emergence is ever-present.

Estonia continues to be both a destination country and a transit country for the Nordic countries, meaning drugs ferried by foreign networks also pass through Estonia yet without always leading to domestic proceedings.

There are risks of foreign organized criminal networks expanding into Estonia too, but the small size of the home market and the higher risk of being caught make Estonia less attractive compared with some neighboring states.

According to the ministry, increased immigration may in the long term affect the consumer base and the formation of criminal structures, and the corresponding analysis is already being carried out preventively.

The Ministry of the Interior says it does not have a separate action plan for a specific scenario in which foreign organized criminal networks begin to systematically control the drug market inside Estonia, however.

The activities of the law enforcement agencies here are based on threat assessments, but at present the realization of a situation like that has not been seen. Where necessary, existing national and international cooperation mechanisms and law enforcement measures will be applied, the ministry explained.

Overdose prevention medicine and options for anonymous residual drugs amnesties

A major share of drug overdose deaths in Estonia are linked to synthetic opioids. To prevent overdoses and reduce fatalities, several measures are in use, including the wider availability of naloxone, a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids.

Naloxone kits are made available to users and their close relatives from harm reduction centers; since fall 2024, naloxone nasal sprays have also been included in PPA patrols' first aid equipment.

According to the National Institute for Health Development (TAI), the use of naloxone and participation in related training have been on the rise.

Drug users additionally get access to both long-term inpatient treatments and short-term detoxification treatments; demand for these has risen year on year.

An amnesty system is also being developed, which would allow users to surrender anonymously drug residues and receive information about the actual composition of the substance. This is particularly useful as an "early warning" system on the emergence of new types of harmful drugs, or stronger varieties of existing ones.

"This will help head off situations where a stronger-than-expected or different-acting substance causes an overdose," the ministry added.

The ministry says it does not plan to reassess the fight against drug crime. This year, the Ministry of the Interior will carry out a mid-term evaluation of the national drug policy through to 2030, during which time the set objectives and progress in achieving them are to be reviewed.

"A substantive and strategic reassessment of activities combating drug crime is not planned separately, as this is a continuously developing field. Law enforcement agencies must as of today already constantly adapt their activities in line with criminals' changing methods of operation," the ministry added.

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