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CIAO Focus, April 2009: International Narcotics Trafficking
- Afghanistan produces over 90 percent of the world’s opium, with cultivation overwhelmingly concentrated in the South, where the Taliban and the insurgency dominate. In 2008, the export value of the opium crop was worth US$3.4 billion and equaled a fifth of the country's GDP.
- Myanmar is the world’s second largest producer of illicit opium and is also a significant player in the manufacture and regional trafficking of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS).
- Colombia is still the principal supplier of cocaine to the world. Most heroin used in the eastern half of the United States comes from Colombia as well. The government seized a record 223 metric tons of cocaine in 2008.
- Mexico remains one of the principal producers of heroin and marijuana destined for the U.S. In 2008 the government eradicated over 12,035 hectares of opium poppy and over 15,756 hectares of marijuana.
- Bolivia witnessed a rise in cocaine production last year due to greater cultivation and more efficient manufacturing methods.
- Jamaica remains the Caribbean's largest source of marijuana for the United States, and cocaine seizures have increased.
- Morocco also consistently ranks among the world’s largest producers and exporters of cannabis. The value of this illegal trade is estimated at $13 billion per year.
- The Netherlands is an important drug distribution point and a major producer of Ecstasy and marijuana.
Source: Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Fact Sheets (2009)
From the CIAO Database:
Special Forum Report: Drug Trafficking and Middle Eastern Terrorist Groups: A Growing Nexus?
Latin American Drugs I: Losing the Fight
Latin American Drugs II- Improving Policy and Reducing Harm
Opium and Afghanistan: Reassessing U.S. Counternarcotics Strategy
How the Drug War in Afghanistan Undermines America’s War on Terror
Outside Sources: *
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/102583.pdf
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
http://www.unodc.org/
Drugs and Crime Facts (Bureau of Justice Statistics)
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/dcf/enforce.htm
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index190EN.html
The Changing Drug War (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/news/globalcoverage/drugTrafficking
* Outside links are not maintained. For broken outside links, CIAO recommends the Way Back Machine.