NATION : ‘Cocaine Epidemic’ Hits Europe

WASHINGTON — Illegal exports of Latin American cocaine to Europe have jumped sharply this year, and some experts estimate they are running at almost twice their 1989 level.

U.S. narcotics officials and Latin Americans familiar with the multibillion-dollar cocaine trade said today that large-scale overproduction of coca leaf and a stagnant U.S. market have caused an unprecedented export drive to Europe.

U.S. experts estimate that Europeans consumed about 90 tons of cocaine last year. Based on seizures in the first nine months of this year, they forecast the 1990 figure at between 160 and 180 tons.

“The Europeans are now where we (Americans) were 10 years ago,” said an official of the Drug Enforcement Administration. “They are facing a cocaine epidemic.”