“Increasing the global cocaine supply should put us all on high alert, UNODC Executive Director Ghada Wali said. “The potential for the cocaine market Expansion in Africa and Asia is a dangerous reality,
sky high supply and demand
Criminal networks are now diversifying with record levels of production, with dangerous consequences, moving beyond Epidemic UNODC said in its statement that and the associated global shutdown, which appeared to temporarily halt illegal trade Global Report on Cocaine 2023,
Best answer, Ms. Wally urged governments and others to closely examine the findings of the report to determine how is this an international threat May be met with international reactions It is based on awareness raising, prevention and international and regional cooperation.
incursions into Africa and Asia
report explains how Coca cultivation increased by 35 percent from 2020 to 2021, a record high and Fastest year-on-year growth since 2016,
The increase is the result of both expansion in cultivation of the coca bush and improvements in the process of converting the coca bush into cocaine hydrochloride, the drug that is then sold on the streets.
supply growth corresponds to a huge increase in demandMany regions have shown a steady increase in cocaine users over the past decade. While the cocaine market is heavily concentrated in the US and parts of Europe, the report warns that it is a strong Major expansion potential in Africa and Asia,
investigates the report emergence of new centers for cocaine trafficking, given that countries in Southeastern Europe and Africa – particularly those in west and central africa – is being used more and more as major transit areas for medicine.
port on the north sea Meanwhile, Antwerp, like Rotterdam and Hamburg, has assumed traditional entry points In Spain and Portugal, to get cocaine in Western Europe. In addition to North America, traffickers are also diversifying their routes into Central America by sending more and more cocaine to Europe.
record-high seizures
Arrests and seizures are also skyrocketing. Interception of cocaine shipments by law enforcement around the world led to seizures nearing record highs 2,000 tons in 2021,
The report depicts a criminal landscape divided into myriad trafficking networks. The modus operandi of these groups was examined in the report New Smugglers Filling the Gap and an array of so-called “service providers“Loan supply-chain services” for a fee”.
For example, the demobilization of militias of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), which previously controlled many Colombiacreated a path for others to move into the coca-growing regions of the U.S. this includes New, local actors, ex-FARC combatants, and foreign groups from Mexico and EuropeReport shown.
tracking trends
Angela Mee, head of the UNODC Research and Analysis Branch, said the report has a a wealth of more information about the incident.
“with Latest knowledge and trends on routes, modalities and networks employed by criminal actors,” she said, adding, “It is my hope that the report will support evidence-based strategies who stay ahead of future developments in the production, trafficking and use of cocaine.”
Ms Mee told UN News in an interview ahead of the report launch that tackling rising cocaine demand was a major international challenge, so it was important to rethink the ways countries could work together to tackle the problem Was.
“The evidence suggests that the cocaine problem is a Transnational trans-Atlantic transcontinental problem,” he told us.
Listen to our full in-depth interview below: