Coca cultivation and total cocaine production hit a record high in 2021. The number of cocaine users globally, estimated at 22 million in the same year, is also steadily increasing, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in its annual World Drug Report.
Honduran authorities seized tons of cocaine on December 11, 2022. Photo: Reuters
“The world is currently experiencing a sustained increase in both cocaine supply and demand, which is being recorded globally and is likely to fuel the development of new markets beyond traditional borders,” the UNODC report said.
“Although the global cocaine market continues to be concentrated in the Americas, Western and Central Europe (with a very high proportion in Australia)… the fastest growth is now occurring in markets such as Africa, Asia and Southeast Europe,” the report said.
The fact that nearly 90% of methamphetamine seizures worldwide are in two regions – Southeast Asia and North America – suggests that these markets have stabilized at high levels, but trafficking of the stimulant is still increasing elsewhere, such as the Middle East and West Africa.
The report said seizures of methamphetamine produced in Afghanistan showed the changing drug economy in that country, which produces 80% of the world's illegal opium poppies, now used to produce heroin.
“Questions remain regarding the linkages between illicit heroin and methamphetamine production (in Afghanistan) whether the two markets will develop in parallel or whether one will replace the other,” the report added.
Mai Anh (according to Reuters)
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