Seizures of synthetic NPS have trended upwards since 2018 – though they still remain below the peak reported in 2012.
The number of countries reporting seizures of synthetic NPS rose from, on average, just 5 over the period 2000-2004 to 80 over the period 2010-2014, before peaking over the period 2015-2019 period with, on average, 111 countries. Over the period 2020-2024, on average, 86 countries per year reported the seizures of synthetic NPS.
Ketamine used to dominate overall synthetic NPS seizures in most years over 2010-2014 period. They were followed by seizures of synthetic cannabinoids and synthetic cathinones and – at lower levels – piperazines and phenethylamines.
A comparison of the periods 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 shows a rising importance of ketamine among synthetic NPS, though in 2024 synthetic cannabinoid seizures rose strongly and emerged as the most seized synthetic NPS.
In terms of regional distribution a comparison of the periods 2015-2019 and 2020-2024, shows an ongoing dominance of synthetic NPS seizures made in East and South-East Asia (mainly linked to ketamine) as well as increases in Western and Central Europe (mainly due to ketamine and synthetic cathinones) and in West and Central Africa, mainly linked to the emergence of Kush, which is laced with various NPS, including synthetic cannabinoids and nitazenes. NPS seizures in North America showed a decline - though most of this decline is due to a lack of reporting in recent years.
