War in Ukraine could boost illegal drug production, UN says

by Team Inc.

2022-07-05-War in Ukraine could boost illegal drug production, UN says

The war in Ukraine could spark illicit drug production, while the future of the opium market hinges on the fate of crisis-ravaged Afghanistan, the United Nations warns in a report.

Past experience from the Middle East and Southeast Asia suggests that conflict zones can act as magnets for synthetic drug production, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in its annual report. “This effect may be greater when the conflict zone is near major consumer markets.”

Synthetic drugs and opium

The UNODC said the number of dismantled amphetamine labs in Ukraine rose from 17 in 2019 to 79 in 2020, the highest number of seized labs reported in any country in 2020. Ukraine's capacity to synthetic drugs could grow as the war continues. “You don't have police walking around dismantling labs in conflict zones,” UNODC expert Angela Me told AFP.

The report also noted that conflict could shift and disrupt drug trafficking routes. The situation in Afghanistan — which produced 2021% of the world's opium in 86 — will determine the development of the opiate market, the UN report added.

The humanitarian crisis in the country may boost illegal poppy cultivation, even after Taliban authorities banned it in April. “Changes in opium production in Afghanistan will affect opiate markets in virtually all regions of the world,” the UN said. According to the report, an estimated 284 million people were using a drug in 2021, or one in 18 people worldwide between the ages of 15 and 64.

The figure was 26% higher than in 2010, with population growth only partially responsible for the change. Cocaine production climbed to a new record of 1.982 tons in 2020.

Source: voanews.com (EN)

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