Today, according to an FT report, the biggest problem is no longer opium. While the government warns drug use may be a habit for anywhere from 10 million to 15 million people in the country, patterns and the substances of abuse appear to be changing.

Young people in social gatherings are increasingly using substances such as amphetamine-type stimulants and substances within the ecstasy group. With one of the youngest populations in the world, this raises the stakes for the country in terms of total users.

According to Drug Control Headquarters deputy head, Saeed Sefantian, in March 2004-05, there were no synthetic drug users registered with the drug treatment program. Three years later, 4 percent of all addicts used synthetic substances. Sefantian estimates this rate has jumped to 7 or 8 percent.

Health ministry officials are concerned that young people are favoring stimulants and point to their ease of use, ready availability and affordability as driving the growth. And, while the government has been successful in reducing the opiate use, it has not completely identified how synthetic drugs are entering the country.

Like everywhere else synthetics are gaining ground, they are being made in “kitchens” as users are obtaining the ingredients needed to create their own blend of the desired drug.
 

In addition to such crimes, there are other addicts who prefer to take a less violent approach to securing their fix. A recent news report focuses on the efforts of the Dorset and Somerset Counter Fraud and Security Management Service (DAS) to reduce the number of individuals able to commit prescription fraud.

One woman has admitted to providing false names in three surgery incidents in order to gain access to codeine-based painkillers. She consumed as many as 150 tablets a day to feed her addiction.

This individual was jailed for a year and 28 days as a result of her actions. A fraud specialist with the NHS noted that catching the individual and putting her away so quickly helped to save the NHS money and resources in terms of lost appointments for genuine patients who truly need help.

The woman accused also faced 17 similar offenses which reportedly took place across Hampshire and Dorset. The judge in this case referred to the defendant as a ‘sad spectacle’ for abusing a system designed to help those in need of medical care.

For this offense, she was sentenced to 12 months. The 28-day sentence was for a shoplifting offense and the judge ordered that it be served consecutively with the 12 month sentence.
 

In one USA Today article, multiple experts were quoted as suggesting this regime is either turning a blind eye or actually supporting traffickers directly. One Brookings Institution fellow noted that parts of the Venezuelan military are likely trafficking with drugs and other substances.

He did note that Chavez is helping to promote this activity by not cracking down on them. He lacks the necessary motivation as he needs the military. As a result, he is allowing them to dabble in the drug trade and reap the financial benefits.

Chavez has also been accusing officials in the United States and the United Nations for his alleged involvement in the trade. In fact, the UN released a report in late June that showed more than 40 percent of all shipments of cocaine to Europe were passing through Venezuela.

In a separate report produced by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, an increasing flow of illicit narcotics were said to be flowing through Venezuela, which is posing significant challenges to the United States counternarcotics interdiction efforts. The report went on to claim that the country’s top military and government officials are involved in the trade.

The assumptions were intensified when Venezuela expelled American drug agents from the country in 2005. U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration officials were kicked out when they were accused of spying, drug trafficking and conspiring to bring down the Chavez regime.
 

Police data shows a 28 percent increase year-over-year in home break-ins and a 7 percent increase in automotive thefts. At the same time, the suburb is experiencing a decrease in violent and sexual crimes.

The reason for this trade-off in crimes: drug addicts need a way to fund their habit. Break-ins and automotive thefts are resulting in electrical goods stolen for their secondary market value. Unemployed 18 to 30-year olds are committing the crimes while also fighting a drug addiction.

For those who are fighting the crime, the problem that is thwarting these individuals is the fact that most of these crimes are taking place after dark and lack forensic evidence to point to the guilty party.

Citizens in the area are asked to help fight the crime wave with preventative measures. Police forces recommend they increase household security, add burglar alarms and keep valuables in cars out of plain sight.

As the number of addicted individuals continues to rise in the area, law enforcement is continuing to battle crime, especially in areas where petty thefts did not tend to occur. The more diligent citizens are in assuming their belongings are at risk and taking the necessary preventatives steps, the more likely they are to help turn the tide.
 

One UN expert noted that the growth was concentrated in areas where ethnic rebels are being intensely pressured from the junta just before rare elections are set to take place. A representative for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Gary Lewis, cited the rapid increase is drug activity.

According to Lewis, there were 23 million methamphetamine tablets seized in the military-ruled country last year. In 2008, only 1 million tablets were seized. While such numbers appeared to represent improved crime prevention, Lewis said the increase reflects a surge in production instead.

Opium production is also a key focus for UN drug leaders as the country has experienced a steep and dramatic increase in the cultivation of the substance. Last year, 78,300 acres of land were set aside for illicit poppy growing, a nearly 50 percent increase since 2006.

Those trying to battle drug production believe it is being fuelled by insurgent groups and by the chronic poverty and food shortages facing a number of communities. The poppy cultivation and the significant hauls of methamphetamine are concentrated in Myanmar’s Shan State, representing a nexus of money, weapons and drugs.

Interestingly, even with greater growing areas, the actual opium production in Myanmar was only slightly increased over 2006 as yields have proven to be weak. And, while poppy cultivation has demonstrated a drastic decline over the last 20 years, there has been a recent spike in production of amphetamine-type drugs, which are easier to product in small and hidden laboratories.

Marzia was often alone while her husband ran drugs and friends introduced her to heroin to numb the pain and calm her nerves while her husband was away. The family lived in Iran for seven years and drugs were easy to come by for a smuggler’s wife.

Today, Marzia is back in Afghanistan trying to kick her habit. Her husband has already married a second wife and is threatening to leave Marzia if she cannot kick her habit. As she puts it plainly: “It’s shameful to be addicted and shameful if he leaves me, that is why I am here.”

Marzia is seeking help at the Sanga Amaj rehabilitation center for the second time in a year. More than 20 women receiving treatment at any time at the center are cared for by two doctors and four nurses. The center supports an additional six social workers who go out into the community to care for women in the home.

Since the center opened in 2007, more than 850 women have received treatment in the 45-day program. According to Muhammad Zafar, deputy minister of counter narcotics, those needing treatment are primarily Afghans returning from Iran and Pakistan.

More than 90 percent of the world’s opium and heroin comes from the poppy fields of Afghanistan and much of it is transported through Pakistan and Iran into Europe by way of the Balkans. Much of the country’s drug problem is fueled by the difficulty in offering an alternative cash crop to impoverished farmers.
 

According to a recent AP report, Paraguay is facing this exact dilemma – vast stretches of territory that has become a breeding ground for violence. Drug traffickers know how far out they need to go beyond the reach of police, leaving leftist guerillas access to drug-trafficking cash to fund an ongoing war on wealthy landowners.

It is said that as much as 40 tons of Andean cocaine and 15 percent of the world’s marijuana move through Paraguay every year, according to drug control reports from the U.S. and the U.N. President Fernando Lugo blames his tiny national budget and little help from vested interests for the failure to control the flow of drugs through the country.

Lugo is fighting more than just the drug lords and leftist guerillas. He must also confront the Paraguayan People’s Army. This increasingly violent band of guerillas can now use drug trafficking to finance their war – financing that exceeds the government fund by millions.

To try and turn the tide, Lugo is leaning on the president of Brazil. This South American country is considered an economic powerhouse, where citizens have become major drug consumers. Organized crime gangs are increasingly using violent tactics to control the transport of drugs along the Brazil-Paraguay border that has no natural boundaries or regular police presence.

Whether or not the two leaders will be able to make a dent in the drug trade or associated violence is yet to be seen. The challenges facing them are great and only time will tell if their partnership will deliver results.
 

A recent news report tells of a man nabbed by European police after he allegedly carried 2kg of cannabis traced by Dubai customs officers. The stash was discovered during the routine X-ray inspection at the Dubai Cargo Village.

The package aroused suspicion when it arrived in Dubai from Africa, yet the desired destination was an unknown European destination. Once inspected by a custom official, it was discovered that the packet was wrapped in such a way that it misrepresented the intentions of the person associated with the package.

In coordinating with the Anti-Drug Department at Dubai Police Headquarters and with their European counterparts, the customs officials were able to arrest the person for further interrogation and investigation.

This particular package continued packets of the drug wrapped in a parcel of sponge and plastic and the Sniffer dogs had no trouble tracing the suspicious material inside the packets. Customs officials then conducted regular tests at the mobile testing units and found 2 Kilos of cannabis wrapped inside the packets.

Mohammed Mater Al Mari, Executive Director of Cargo Operations at Dubai Customs said, "Cooperation in exchanging information in connection with such shipment was made as well with another European capital city to which the drugs shipment was destining, after leaving Dubai and before landing at its final destination where the owner was waiting."

A recent JPost article shows that Taliban forces and Afghan drug lords are facing opposition from a number of sides as Iranian forces are massing along the border in the south and the large-scale allied offensive is closing in from the north.

“The message is clear,” said Antoni Maria Costa, executive director of the Untied Nation’s Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), in the JPost. “In order to further reduce the biggest source of the world’s deadliest drug, there must be better security, development and governance in Afghanistan.”

According to Prof. Sultan Barakat, Head of the Postwar Reconstruction and Development Unit at the University of York, the matter needed to be thought of within its international context.

“It must be recognized that both Iran and Pakistan have the potential to influence the trajectory of stabilization in Afghanistan significantly,” Barakat told The Media Line. “The economic interests of all neighboring countries, China included, need to be seriously considered and their incentives understood.”

He added that from these countries’ perspectives, military expansion of coalition forces could be seen as a direct threat – especially in the case of Iran in particular. The offensive this week by 15,000 U.S., British and Afghan government forces marks the largest ever assault against Taliban insurgents since the way began in 2001.

These forces are currently targeting the cities of Marjah and Nad Ali in the southern Helmand province. This is known to be a Taliban stronghold and a major drug producing area. One secondary goal of the offensive is to disrupt the large-scale opium trade that is estimated to make up 87 to 93 percent of the worldwide market and finance Taliban rule.
 

As Afghanistan is the center of the world’s narcotics production, its proximity to Iran ensures its activities directly affect the country, especially as Iran offers the shortest drug trafficking route from Afghanistan to the rest of the world.

The country of Iran is now in its third year of joining forces with Afghanistan, Pakistan and the UNODC to find common points of view. Given the political situations in Afghanistan and Pakistan, it is impossible to achieve set goals.

Ahmadi-Moqaddam noted that since the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, there has been a worrying rise in narc

otics production in Afghanistan. In their final year of power, the Taliban reduced production of narcotics in Afghanistan to 200 tons to improve their global image. Today, this production has reached between 8,000 and 9,000 tons.

According to Mr. Antonio Maria Costa, the Secretary General of the UNODC, narcotics production in Afghanistan has been reduced
by roughly 6 percent. Iran’s findings, however, suggest an increase instead of a reduction.

When speaking on the subject of addiction and abuse, Ahmadi-Moqaddam noted that in the past, Iran took a one-dimensional approach and that was fighting supply – an assumption that suggested no supply, no addict. While this fight still continues, the country is now taking a more focused look at treating addiction.

When asked about the UNODC and their impact on the fight against drug trafficking, Ahmadi-Moqaddam noted that while this agency is responsible for fighting crime and narcotic drugs, this is the right venue for regional and International cooperation. He also said that the pomp and circumstance should not matter as much as setting practical steps and delivering on meaningful guarantees.