Eugenio Zoffili addresses INLOD in Vienna, 24 June 2025VIENNA, 26 June 2025 – In observance of today’s International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, which is marked every year to strengthen international co-operation in achieving a world free of drug abuse, the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on Combating Organized Crime, Eugenio Zoffili (Italy), urged parliaments, governments and international organizations to redouble efforts to eliminate the scourge of synthetic drugs through multilateralism, with a focus on prevention.

In this regard, Special Representative Zoffili has participated in a number of events in Vienna this week to strengthen international engagement.

Speaking on Tuesday at the First Global Meeting of International Network for Legislation on Drugs, Zoffili noted that the demand for synthetic drugs is on the rise in the OSCE area. Highlighting the evolving techniques of criminal organizations that are diversifying and using new technologies and crypto-currencies to finance their operations anonymously, he stressed that as OSCE PA Special Representative, his focus has been on three closely interconnected matters: drug trafficking, human trafficking and migrant smuggling, and terrorism.

“The main area of concern has been the fight against drug trafficking, which is one of the major sources of income for financing crime, indeed, its very lifeblood,” Zoffili said. He pointed out that the PA has been working closely with its international partners to tackle these issues.

To effectively respond to the growing threat of synthetic drugs, Zoffili highlighted the importance of reinforcing cross-border co-operation between law enforcement agencies and legislative assemblies. “I am firmly convinced that there is an urgent need for updated legislation, shared and innovative investigative methods, and above all, the promotion of a culture of prevention—especially among young people. This is the core principle driving Italy’s intervention plan to prevent the spread of fentanyl throughout the country and to make our citizens, particularly the younger generations, aware of the threat posed by synthetic substances,” Zoffili said.

Eugenio Zoffili, Jeremy Douglas and Marco Bonabello in Veinna, 24 June 2025During his two-day visit, the OSCE PA Special Representative also met with Jeremy Douglas, Chief of the Office of the Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and with Umberto Severini, Head of the OSCE Strategic Police Matters Unit, to strengthen ties between intergovernmental and interparliamentary authorities in tackling transnational organized crime.

On Wednesday, Zoffili represented the Assembly at the opening of the OSCE Annual Security Review Conference, the flagship event in the politico-military dimension of security in the OSCE area.

For more information on the work of the Special Representative on Combating Organized Crime, please click here.