UN report: Russia becomes largest market for Afghan heroin

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Published time: October 22, 2009 21:02
Edited time: September 28, 2010 12:19

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Asia, Central Asia, Drugs, Russia, Terrorism, UN

Russia has become the biggest consumer of Afghan heroin with 21% of all the drug consumed in the world, as of the latest UN Office on Drugs and Crime report “Addiction, Crime and Insurgency” published on October 21.

According to the report, no less than 70 tons of heroin were trafficked to Russia in 2008 – that’s three times more than to the US and Canada together, and much more than previously estimated.

“It's being brought to Russia across the unprotected, transparent, and I would call them virtual borders, which were established after the collapse of the Soviet Union,” says Viktor Ivanov, head of the Federal Drug Control Service.

Russia's Federal Drug Control Service Head, Viktor Ivanov, stated that over 180 Afghan drug cartels were busy trafficking opiates to the Russian Federation. He pointed out that most of them are operating in Afghan provinces that are under the control of coalition forces in Afghanistan, and therefore lie in their zone of responsibility.

“About 2-2.5 million people [in Russia] are drug users… and 90% of drug-dependent people use Afghan opiates,” Ivanov told RT.

Over the last 10 years, the quantity of drug addicts in Russia skyrocketed tenfold, claiming 30,000-40,000 lives annually.

Meanwhile, Afghanistan remains the world leader in opiate production with 92% of all global opium poppy cultivation. This market is valued at $65 billion. It involves 15 million addicts, of which 100,000 people die every year.

An Afghan policeman shows six and a half tonnes of drugs to be set on fire during an anti-narcotics ceremony in the outskirts of Kabul (AFP Photo / Massoud Hossaini)

Widespread corruption and the lack of enforcement results in the interception of only 2% of the trafficked Afghan opiates, while in Colombia up to 36% is being seized.

The UNODC report estimates the main consumer markets in Europe consist of 3.1 million heroin users.

A decade ago, the Taliban earned $75-100 million annually by putting a tithe tax on opium poppy cultivation. Starting from 2005, the Taliban and terrorist groups in Afghanistan have boosted income up to $90-160 million per year from simply taxing opium production and trade.

The smuggling of Afghan opiates is fueling addiction and drug use along trafficking routes in Central Asia, as well as spreading diseases, the report says.

Though the production of opium in Afghanistan has fallen by some 10% in 2009, the opium in storage is enough to satisfy the worldwide demand fully for two years.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has named opiate production in Afghanistan the major threat to the national security of Russia and discussed the issue during the meetings with the US President Barack Obama and the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying the efforts of the West to counter drug trafficking in Afghanistan are insufficient.

Comments (6)

Enrique 27.09.2010 13:21

In this case the Taliban were much better than the present Government. By 2002 the Taliban had almost eradicated heroin production in Afghanistan. Bad luck they supported Bin Laden because the Taliban were much more efficient in the War against Drugs. In the Russian Federation heroin is reponsible for most of the 30,000 annual AIDS deaths. That means 300,000 young Russians in a decade. While in Western Europe, for example, the number is ten times lower. That means an incredible lose for the nation in terms of crime, fear, broken families, robberies, murders, depresssion...A huge cost for the nation in the health care and law enforcement (police, lawyers etc) fields.

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largest market t 26.10.2009 21:23

The only way the illegal drug traffic to Russia and other countries can be contained and stopped is by all civilized nations implementing a mandatory death penalty for all persons involved in the drug trade. There are too many influential people who are involved, either as users [HOLLYWOOD STARS] or high political and judical people who allow it to go on {sometimes for a profit}. After many of these criminals are executed publically the problem will start to get corrected. After a few thousand of the top leaders are executed the business will start to dry up worldwide. Severe consequences is the only way to deal with this evil. The question is, do the world leaders of today really want to destroy the illegal drug industry?

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R John 23.10.2009 06:42

This seems to be focused on the availability, leaving aside the obvious social problems inside Russia, There's an old saying “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” I can go to my local market and buy gallons of beer and turn myself into an alcoholic, but because I am a well balanced person with a stable life I choose not to destroy myself and my family. More should be done to deal with the social problems inside Russia that have turned 2.2 million people into heroin addicts; let alone the millions of alcoholics this country already has. This is a national disaster; Russia’s population is shrinking while at the same time the global birth rate is increasing, it seems to me that these despairing people would just turn to another drug if heroin was not available (probably cheap home made vodka).

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