UN warns of global increase in drug trafficking

Reuters news agency today (June 26) quoted a United Nations (UN) report saying that supply and demand for the banned substance cocaine is exploding worldwide , and the methamphetamine trade is moving beyond long-standing markets, including Afghanistan.

Cocaine cultivation and total cocaine production hit a record high in 2021, the latest year for which data is available, and have continued to rise steadily, the report said. The number of cocaine users globally has also increased, up from an estimated 22 million recorded in the same period. However, the report said it is encouraging that the rate of cocaine seizures has also accelerated.

Drugs were discovered and seized during a Honduran police operation in December 2022

"The world is currently witnessing a sustained increase in both supply and demand for cocaine, which is now being felt globally and has the potential to fuel the development of new markets beyond traditional borders," the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said on June 25.

The report added that while the global cocaine market continues to be concentrated in the Americas and Western and Central Europe, it appears that the fastest growth is occurring in developing markets such as Africa, Asia and Southeast Europe.

For methamphetamine, while nearly 90% of seizures were in two regions, East Asia-Southeast Asia and North America, data suggest that these markets have stabilized, while trafficking remains elevated elsewhere, such as the Middle East and West Africa.

The UNODC further pointed out that seizures involving methamphetamine produced in Afghanistan show that the economy of the country that produces 80% of the world's illegal cocaine crop is changing.

“Questions remain regarding the linkages between illicit heroin and methamphetamine production (in Afghanistan) and whether the two markets will develop in parallel or whether one will replace the other,” the report added.

The UNODC report also pointed to economic and social inequalities related to drug challenges, environmental devastation and human rights violations caused by the illicit drug economy, and the growing dominance of synthetic drugs, according to the ReliefWeb portal.

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