Afghanistan, opiates from

Most countries of East and South-East Asia reported declines in opiate abuse in 2005, reflecting the strong declines of opium production in Myanmar and Lao PDR. The Chinese market was reported to have been stable, as declining levels of opiates from Myanmar were offset by a rising opiate supply from Afghanistan. From 1992 to 2005, the drug use perception indicator for... 

In 2005, the majority of opiate seizures (67%) took place in the countries surrounding Afghanistan. When seizures made in Europe are added these seizures combined accounted for 87 per cent of the global total. The remaining seizures were made in East and South-East Asia and Oceania (10%), with the Americas accounting for 4 per and Africa 0.2 per cent. Africa s opiate supplies are increasingly arriving from South-West Asia.3... 

Between 2002 and 2005, the proportion of opiate seizures along the Afghanistan-Europe trafficking route increased from 78 to 87 per cent, reflecting rising opium production in Afghanistan. Seizures along the other two main routes decreased, from 15 to 10 per cent for South-East Asia/Oceania and from 7 to 4 per cent from Latin America to North America. These reflect production declines in South-East Asia and Latin America. 

Preliminary data from Iran and Pakistan suggest a further increase of 46 per cent in total opiate seizures in 2006. While this shows continued efforts in both countries it also reflects the 49 per cent increase in Afghanistan s opium production in 2006, mainly in the southern provinces close to Pakistan and Iran. Opiate seizures also increased in Turkey in 2006, by almost 25 per cent, suggesting that the traditional route via Pakistan, Iran, Turkey and the Balkan countries regained importance. 

A study published in India in 2004 revealed opiate prevalence rates of around 0.7 per cent for males2, which is equivalent to an annual prevalence of around 0.4 per cent of the general population aged 15-64, or slightly less than 3 million people. Opiate abuse in India increased in 2005, fuelled by the increasing availability of heroin smuggled from Afghanistan. 

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