INTERNATIONAL ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFIC - 1969

• NCJ Number: 66225
• Author(s): ANON
• Date Published: 1970
• Length: 41 pages
• Corporate Author: International Criminal Police Organization
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: France
• Note: SUBMITTED BY THE GENERAL SECRETARIAT TO THE 39TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY SESSION, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, OCTOBER 5-10, 1970

Annotation

REPORTS RECEIVED BY THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL POLICE ORGANIZATION (INTERPOL) GENERAL SECRETARIST DURING 1969 INDICATE THAT THERE HAS BEEN A DEFINITE INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF CASES OF ILLICIT DRUG TRAFFIC.

Abstract

TRAFFIC IN NATURAL DRUGS (OPIUM AND ITS DERIVATIVES) CONTINUED ON A LARGE SCALE, AND SEIZURES OF CANNABIS, AMPHETAMINES, AND HALLUCINOGENS ROSE SHARPLY. DATA CONFIRMS THAT CANNABIS IS THE MOST POPULAR DRUG AMONG USERS. DURING 1969, 55 COUNTRIES REPORTED DRUG SEIZURES OF INTERRNATIONAL IMPORTANCE, COMPARED TO 50 IN 1968. THE NUMBER OF SEIZURES ROSE SHARPLY COMPARED WITH THE NUMBER IN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, JUMPING FROM 1,120 TO 1,929, AN INCREASE OF 72 PERCENT. THE NUMBER OF ARRESTS ALSO ROSE, FROM 1,878 IN 1968 TO 3,549 IN 1969, AN INCREASE OF 88.9 PERCENT. REPORTS FROM AFRICA ROSE SLIGHTLY OVER THE NUMBER RECEIVED IN 1968, BUT THEY DO NOT ACCURATELY REFLECT THE EXTENT OF THE DRUG PROBLEM IN AFRICA, PARTICULARLY THE TRAFFIC IN CANNABIS WITHIN COMMUNITIES AND BETWEEN NEIGHBORING COUNTRIES. IN SPITE OF STRICT REPRESSIVE MEASURES, INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKERS CONTINUE TO SELL THEIR GOODS ON NORTH AMERICAN BLACK MARKETS. CANNABIS, NATURAL DRUGS AND THEIR DERIVATIVES, HEROIN, AND COCAINE ARE CONTINUALLY BEING SMUGGLED INTO THE U.S. AND CANADA, WITH PRIVATE PLANES A POPULAR MEANS OF TRANSPORT BETWEEN MEXICO A THE U.S. IN EUROPE, ILLICIT TRAFFIC IN OPIATES REMAINS THE MAJOR DRUG PROBLEM. EUROPE SERVES AS A PLACE OF TRANSIT AND CONVERSION OF DRUGS COMING FROM THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST ON THEIR WAY TO NORTH AMERICAN BLACK MARKETS. MOREOVER, CANNABIS ABUSE HAS SUDDENLY INCREASED MARKEDLY IN EUROPE SO THAT EXTRA GOVERNMENTAL VIGILANCE HAS BECOME NECESSARY. AS IN PAST YEARS, THE NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST CONTINUES TO BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT REGIONS FOR PRODUCING OPIUM, MORPHINE, AND CANNABIS; TRAFFIC IN OPIATES REMAINS A MAJOR PROBLEM IN THE FAR EAST. TABLES PRESENT DATA ON OPIUM, MORPHINE, DIACETYLMORPHINE, COCAINE, CANNABIS, OTHER NATURAL DRUGS AND THEIR DERIVATIVES, AND SYNTHETIC DRUGS. INFORMATION ON INTERNATIONAL POLICE COOPERATION IS ALSO PROVIDED. (PRG)