Afghanistan has become a major producer of methamphetamine, says a United Nations report published this Sunday, warning of the impact this could have on the international drug market and the “threat” posed by this drug.
“Methamphetamine trafficking in Afghanistan and neighboring countries is skyrocketing,” the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, based in Vienna, the capital of Austria, states in the report.
In five years – he details – there was a “drastic increase of almost 12 times” in seizures of methamphetamine, a substance derived from amphetamine, used as a stimulant of the central nervous system, going from 2.5 tons in 2017 to 29.7 tons in 2021. .
The United Nations agency highlights that the illegal production of methamphetamine is “a growing threat” and states that seizures have been made in regions such as the European Union, the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Africa.
Although it continues, trafficking in heroin, the main drug originating in Afghanistan, has decreased since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 and a ban on drug production was adopted in April 2022.
Since this ban, methamphetamine trafficking has intensified, opening the way to “a significant change in the illicit drug market”, which requires “immediate attention”, warns, in a statement, the executive director of the office, Ghada Waly. .
In the report, which analyzes the different methods of methamphetamine production, the specialized agency calls for international cooperation, which is essential to prevent the diversion and smuggling of chemicals and prevent the illicit manufacture of methamphetamine in Afghanistan and neighboring countries.
Source: TSF
