Cocaine use is “booming” on the island, the drug being readily available and higher disposable income making it more affordable to party-goers, according to police sources and a leading narcotics expert.
A recent report by the EU’s drug agency noted an average fourfold increase in seizures of the popular party drug on the island in recent years, pointing to a growing trend of use.
Drug squad and Paceville-based police officers told the Times of Malta the tell-tale signs of cocaine use were all over Malta’s main entertainment mecca.
“There is definitely a cocaine boom at the moment. We are seeing a return of the substance. Not that it ever really went out of fashion but now there is clearly more use. It is all over the place,” a police officer said, insisting on anonymity.
What the police looked out for were signs of twitching noses and revellers heading to a nightclub’s bathroom stall together to snort the white powder.
The number of cocaine-related arrests was rising, police sources said. 

Drug expert Godwin Sammut said he too had noted an increase in the substance in recent months. Tasked with testing drugs seized by the authorities, Mr Sammut said cocaine had become…