Europe's illicit drug market almost as large as U.S.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a U.N. anti-drug fund using assets seized from smugglers as interior ministers of major powers discussed international cocaine trafficking.

France said delegates at the talks in Paris supported the idea, but it was unclear how much of their drug seizure spoils governments might be asked to hand over.

"Combatting traffickers is not just about locking people up or seizing drugs. It's about attacking the primary cause of the traffic, and that's money," Sarkozy told ministers from Group of Eight countries as he launched the talks late on Monday.

"This fund would have a sole use, to support the capabilities of the most fragile states and the ones most affected by drug traffic," he said.

Delegates from 22 nations, including key drug producers like Colombia and Mexico and consumer nations such as the United States, Britain and Spain, discussed the growth of the drug trade in Europe and its push into West Africa.

Mexico and Central America are struggling to contain powerful drugs gangs which supply U.S. and European consumers with cocaine and other narcotics. Turf wars have killed 38,000 people in Mexico alone since late 2006.

The G8 said it would encourage the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime to examine Sarkozy's proposal, noting the idea would be for countries to sign up to the fund on a voluntary basis.

The plan assumes rich nations would be willing to turn over the proceeds of drugs trafficking seizures to help pay for the fight against smuggling around the world, particularly in smaller countries with weak drug-fighting infrastructure.

Mabel Feliz Baez, head of Dominican Republic's National Drug Council, told Reuters TV she hoped the idea would be adopted.

"There needs to be political willpower and we need to follow that up," she said. "Otherwise it's just blah, blah, blah."

The drugs trade in Western Europe is now worth around $33 billion annually, close to the size of the $37 billion U.S. market, said Yuri Fedotov, executive director of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime.

Especially worrying is the growth of West Africa as a transit point for European markets, Fedotov told the G8 meeting.

French Interior Minister Claude Gueant told the talks the costs to political stability were tangible and could get worse.

"The costs to the population are just as worrying as the traffickers give local accomplices a part of their merchandise and in doing so, they create a secondary market," he said.

Fedotov said Africa also risks becoming a larger consumer of cocaine for the same reason.

Despite increased drug seizures in South America, cocaine prices in Europe have not risen, suggesting traffickers have found new smuggling methods, according to the United Nations.