NINDYA STEPHANIE CHRISTINA

41170185 – KEDOKTERAN

DRUG TRAFFICKING

Introduction
Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and
sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. UNODC is continuously
monitoring and researching global illicit drug markets in order to gain a more comprehensive
understanding of their dynamics. Drug trafficking is a key part of this research. Further
information can be found in the yearly World Drug Report.
At current levels, world heroin consumption (340 tons) and seizures represent an annual flow
of 430-450 tons of heroin into the global heroin market. Of that total, opium from Myanmar
and the Lao People's Democratic Republic yields some 50 tons, while the rest, some 380 tons
of heroin and morphine, is produced exclusively from Afghan opium. While approximately 5
tons are consumed and seized in Afghanistan, the remaining bulk of 375 tons is trafficked
worldwide via routes flowing into and through the countries neighbouring Afghanistan.
The Balkan and northern routes are the main heroin trafficking corridors linking Afghanistan
to the huge markets of the Russian Federation and Western Europe. The Balkan route
traverses the Islamic Republic of Iran (often via Pakistan), Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria
across South-East Europe to the Western European market, with an annual market value of
some $20 billion. The northern route runs mainly through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan (or
Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan) to Kazakhstan and the Russian Federation. The size of that
market is estimated to total $13 billion per year.

Solution

Illegal drugs and the tragic impact on societies worldwide has some experts reaching the
conclusion that reducing demand which keeps this lucrative underworld business thriving is
the only solution.
It has been generally accepted that the huge smuggling trade of cocaine, heroin and other
illegal substances from Latin America into the United States is a direct result of the massive
demand in America, and results in billions of dollars of profits for traffickers.
Despite a wide range of programmes designed to discourage this activity, when you have a
generation largely hooked on using drugs to produce a false high, drug dealers will stop at
nothing to keep their customers from all walks of life satisfied.
Every year, thousands of people, many of them innocent bystanders are killed in brutal
clashes between police and heavily armed drug dealers throughout the world. Parts of
Mexico are notorious for vicious cold blooded executions between rival gangs over trading
turf. Top police officials and public officials have also fallen victim to this never ending war
against the multibillion dollar drugs trade.
While law officials from many countries including the United States, confiscate billions of
dollars of contraband every year, they are not able to halt the flow completely, because
when one method fails, dealers quickly seek other means to deliver supplies. Remember it is
the customer who keeps their business alive. Without them there is no drugs trade.
A top American police officer recently said he was convinced that the only real solution was
to educate young people at infancy stage on the dangers of becoming involved, in order to
at least reduce demand in the next generation. It makes sense, because a business cannot
survive without customers.
No doubt implementing a full scale programme to educate about illegal drugs throughout our
entire system of learning will not be easy. Bermuda has a serious illegal drug problem with
customers throughout our society. In fact we probably pass customers daily who appear to
be law-abiding citizens, but in the dark shadows are a part of the problem, and not the
solution.
Most would agree that this is a sensitive subject which has affected practically every family
in Bermuda. In some cases even parents have been engaged in illegal drug activity, and this
places children at greater risk. Without proper guidance, children become easy targets.
If a massive community effort was launched to explain to every young child in Bermuda how
dangerous illegal drugs can be to the body and the mind, it would possibly lead to a sharp
reduction in customers in the years ahead.
Just as the world launched an all-out attack on the hazards of smoking which resulted in
smoking bans in just about every jurisdiction, a similar thrust should be aimed at catching
young minds early to stem the illegal drug tide.
Rehabilitation programmes to assist addicts requires a great deal of expensive care, and
while there are success stories, the failure rate is still depressingly high. In this case, an
ounce of prevention really is worth a pound of cure.
The Police and immigration officials along with drug enforcement agencies in other
jurisdictions work around the clock, to prevent shipments from reaching the public domain.
However there is no let up in fresh attempts to smuggle drugs, despite many traffickers
being caught and sent to prison. The illegal drug trade will not vanish overnight as long as
the demand remains.
If Bermuda intends to be truly serious about this menace, our best hope is to protect and
save young minds before history simply repeats itself in the next generation. That is almost
unthinkable, but it will become reality, if we fail to educate early.