By IRNA,
Tehran : According to World Drug Report 2010, released by the UN Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) opiate seizures continue to increase while the largest seizures continue to be reported from the countries neighboring Afghanistan, notably Iran and Pakistan.
The report which deals with global developments in illicit drug production, trafficking and consumption says this applies to both opium and heroin seizures. Morphine seizures, in contrast, declined in 2008, a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) said in Tehran.
The main drug market: Heroin
Heroin is the most widely consumed illicit opiate in the world. It is derived from opium, which itself can have an illicit use. Of the opium that is not converted into heroin, two thirds is consumed in just five countries: the Islamic Republic of Iran (42%), Afghanistan (7%), Pakistan (7%), India (6%) and the Russian Federation (5%). Other opiates are also abused, including various poppy straw concoctions and prescription opiods, but heroin remains the most problematic opiate internationally.
Both opium and heroin seizures continued to increase in 2008. Morphine seizures, however, continued the declining trend started in 2007. Although heroin seizures have followed a generally increasing trend since 2002, they have been outpaced by the growth in global opium seizures, possibly reflecting difficulties faced by Afghan laboratory operators to obtain sufficient precursor chemicals to transform the large quantities of harvested opium into heroin. Most of the opium seizures continue to be made in the Islamic Republic of Iran, neighbouring Afghanistan. The global rise in opium seizures thus largely reflected the growing opium seizures made by the authorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Most of the heroin dispatched from Afghanistan to West Europe proceeds overland along the so-called ‘Balkan route’, transiting the Islamic Republic of Iran (or Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran), Turkey and the countries of South-East Europe. It is estimated that 37% of all Afghan heroin, or 140 mt, departs Afghanistan along this route, to meet demand of around 85 mt. Most of the heroin interdicted in the world is seized along this route: between them, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Turkey were responsible for more than half of all heroin seized globally in 2008.
The total quantity of heroin seized in Europe, as reported by some 43 countries, was around 7.6 mt in 2008, which is only a fifth of the amount seized in Turkey and the Islamic Republic of Iran in 2008. In all, three countries – the United Kingdom (18%), Italy (14%) and Bulgaria (13%) – accounted for almost half of the total amount seized in the EU and EFTA countries in 2008. Across Europe, many countries directly straddling the main heroin trafficking routes reported rather low levels of heroin seizures in 2008, such as Montenegro (18 kg), Bosnia and Herzegovina (24 kg), the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (26 kg), Hungary (28 kg), Albania (75 kg), Austria (104 kg), Slovenia (136 kg), Croatia (153 kg) and Serbia (207 kg).
Trafficking through Pakistan
Some 150 mt (40%) of Afghan heroin/morphine are trafficked to Pakistan, particularly to Balochistan province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which both share long borders with Afghanistan. While some of the drugs are consumed or seized in Pakistan, most are trafficked to other countries. Major destinations for heroin trafficked through Pakistan include the Islamic Republic of Iran (35 mt, most for onward shipment to Europe), various countries in Asia (25 mt), Africa (some 20 mt) and the United Arab Emirates (11 mt for onward shipment to China and East/Southern Africa). Pakistani traffickers also operate numerous air (and sea) trafficking routes to Europe, mostly to the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, shipping an estimated 5 mt annually via these direct connections.
Amphetamine-type stimulants
Amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) refer to a group of synthetic substances comprised of amphetamine-group (primarily amphetamine, methamphetamine and methcathinone) and ecstasy-group substances (MDMA and its analogues). ATS can be made anywhere the precursors can be found, so manufacturing tends to happen close to the main consumer markets. More than one third of the countries reporting to UNODC have detected ATS manufacture in their territories. The number of ATS-related clandestine laboratories reported increased by 20% in 2008, and, for the first time, revealed the existence of laboratories in Argentina, Brazil, Guatemala, the Islamic Republic of Iran and Sri Lanka. Information on the 8,432 detected laboratories came from 31 countries, with the largest numbers reported from the United States, the Czech Republic, Australia, China, Slovakia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada and Mexico. However, the number of laboratories is not representative of their output, as many countries with lower total counts report only laboratories with large-scale outputs.