Essays

Heroin has become a worldwide problem as opium production occurs in three source regions—Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia, and Latin America. Besides being consumed in the producing regions, opium is converted to heroin and sent to the primary consuming markets of Europe and North America. The doubling of worldwide opium production since the mid-1980s has resulted in greater heroin availability, rising purity, and lower prices. Universal increases in heroin-related medical emergencies, arrests, and crime indicate that heroin consumption remains a growing problem throughout the world.

The UN Drug Control Program estimates that there are some 8 million heroin abusers worldwide. Although heroin use remains less prevalent than cannabis, it accounts for a greater percentage of drug- related health problems and criminal activity. More than one-third of the estimated 2 million heroin users in the United States are considered hardcore addicts. While most heroin users tend to be older, heroin use among younger groups has also risen in recent years. The higher purity levels of heroin adds to the problem as it allows heroin to be smoked or snorted, thus making it more attractive to drug users who do not wish to inject. In addition, lower prices for heroin make the drug affordable. 

The routes, volume, and methods for the transhipment of heroin vary between the producing regions. Europe and Africa account for more than half of the worldwide seizures, while Southeast and Southwest Asia account for more than one-third. According to the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, China, Turkey and Pakistan are the countries where most of the heroin seizures have occurred. The movement of heroin from source /.ones to consuming markets is found to be done using all forms of air, maritime, and overland conveyances. However, more than two-thirds of worldwide seizures have been found in land conveyances.

Although maritime conveyances represent a small fraction of the heroin shipments seized, they remain the principal method of transporting large amounts of Southeast Asian heroin to consuming markets. The high volume of commercial maritime traffic provides a natural camouflage for heroin concealed in shipping containers, and multiple port transfers help obscure the origin of the illicit cargo. Heavy foot and vehicle traffic at land border crossings also facilitates the smuggling of heroin between countries and regions. Traffickers conceal shipments within commercial and private vehicles, or hide the drug on or in their body as they walk across the border.

Trafficking groups have also been found to use individual couriers, sometimes called mules, to smuggle 1 to 2 kilograms of heroin on commercial air flights. Generally, the drug is hidden in personal belongings, hidden on their bodies, or ingested.

In Southwest Asia, Afghanistan and Pakistan remain prime producers of opium. Though Europe is the primary market for Southwest Asian heroin. The drug is also consumed in Africa, the United States, and Canada. According to the website of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the overland route to Europe is through Iran and Turkey via the Balkans. Heroin also flows directly from Pakistan to overseas markets concealed in maritime containers, or carried by couriers on commercial air flights to the Middle East, Europe, Africa, the US, and Canada. Lately, the Central Asia states—Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan—have emerged as important smuggling routes for Southwest Asian heroin moving to or through Russia and Eastern Europe. Loose border controls, lack of regional counter-narcotics resources, and a growing Russian heroin market facilitate ihe movement of drugs through Central Asia by vehicle, train, and commercial air means. Most of the Southwest Asian heroin sent to the United States is either smuggled by couriers on commercial flights or is shipped in mail packages.

Although only two percent of the world's opium is produced in South America, especially Colombia, it remains an important source of heroin in the United States, particularly along the east coast. Most Colombian heroin flows of the United States directly via commercial air, while smaller amounts travel from non-traditional transit countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Chile to the United States. The Central America- Mexican corridor appears to serve as a secondary transit route. Colombian heroin also flows to the United States through the Caribbean. Heroin shipments from South America move by non-commercial boats and cruise ships or by courier on commercial flights to Puerto Rico, Miami, and New York.

Mexico also produces only two percent of the world's opium, but most of the illicit crop is converted into heroin and shipped to the western United States through the southwest border, hidden in commercial and private vehicles or smuggled by individual couriers who conceal the drug on their person or in personal baggage. A smaller percentage of Mexican heroin is estimated to enter the United States directly on commercial flights.

In Southeast Asia, the 'Golden Triangle' accounts for more than half of the world's opium production and remains the principal source of the world's opium. China and Thailand serve as key destination and transshipments points for Myanmarese-produced heroin. Opiates move overland from Burma, through southern China to Hong Kong, Macau and other regional commercial air and maritime centers for forwarding to Australia, Taiwan, Europe, and North America via maritime and air means. Alternately, heroin moves overland through northern Thailand to Bangkok and southern Thailand for export by air and maritime conveyances.

Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia are secondary transit zones and markets for Myanmarese heroin and opium. While most Lao-produced heroin appears to the consumed domestically, Myanmarese heroin flows overland though Laos to China and Vietnam for local use and transhipment overseas. Besides heroin originating from Afghanistan and

Pakistan, a small percentage of Myanmarese heroin and opium also moves westward by vehicle, river, and foot to India and Bangladesh, primarily for domestic use.

Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have emerged as both a market and transit routes for heroin destined for Europe, Australia, and the United States. Nigerian and other African trafficking groups based in Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, and Singapore use couriers to smuggle small quantities on scheduled flights to Europe and North America. Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea's advanced transportation infrastructure and large-scale trade volume all serve as potential transit routes for Southeast Asian heroin destined for North America and Europe. While most Southeast Asian heroin is imported into North America and Western Europe in maritime containers, primarily via major shipping centers, smaller amounts are brought to consuming nations by individual couriers on commercial flights.

Thus, the consumption of heroin is spreading throughout the world and immediate necessary action needs to be undertaken by nations jointly or multilaterally through regional organisations and through the offices of the UN to combat this illegal trade.