Pubdate: Thu, 14 Sep 2000
Source: Guardian Weekly, The (UK)
Copyright: Guardian Publications 2000
Contact:  75 Farringdon Road London U.K EC1M 3HQ
Fax: 44-171-242-0985
Website: http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/GWeekly/front/
Author: Ewen MacAskill and Rob Evans

US REPORTS BLAME EUROPE'S OPEN BORDERS FOR INCREASE IN DRUG TRADE

Europe is losing the war against drugs, according to intelligence reports 
from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) obtained by 
the Guardian.

The reports reveal dramatic increases in drug production, and police forces 
stretched thin trying to cope with Europe's porous borders.

An increase in drug seizures throughout Europe and Asia is interpreted not 
as effective policing, but as a sign of increasing volumes. The DEA is 
especially critical of the policies of the Dutch government, expressing 
scepticism about the effectiveness of its liberal approach. DEA reports on 
10 countries, from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Yugoslavia, 
Albania, Macedonia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and the Netherlands, were 
obtained by the Guardian during the past six months through the US Freedom 
of Information Act. They provide the most up-to-date information on the 
changing supply routes from the golden crescent countries - Afghanistan and 
Pakistan - to Europe.

Conflict in the Balkans, particularly the war in Kosovo last year, 
disrupted the traditional route throughout the 1990s. While variations on 
the route have been adopted, much of that trade  has shifted north. Routes 
that emerged after the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989 are now witnessing 
the biggest volume of drug trafficking, especially through the Czech 
Republic, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania.

The DEA emphasises that lifting border restrictions within the European 
Union under the Schengen agreement, which Britain opted out of, has made 
life easier for drug traffickers. "Although this agreement is advantageous 
for trade, it is also attractive to drug traffickers," the report says.

In one especially pessimistic passage, the DEA concludes that drug 
traffickers have built up stockpiles that allow them to ensure smooth 
supplies. "In the last few years heroin has been increasingly stockpiled in 
some western and eastern European locations, enabling west European 
travellers to take delivery of the drug closer to home," it says.

A report on the Netherlands, prepared by the intelligence division of the 
DEA and dated June 2000, says that Amsterdam is "rather unique in that 
every type of drug-smuggling and distribution organisation is represented 
for strategic and logistical purposes. It is an organisational centre, a 
central brokerage point and a safe haven."

The Netherlands is the world's biggest producer of Ecstasy. The DEA says: 
"The United States is increasingly a target of MDMA [Ecstasy] traffickers. 
Quantities of Ecstasy tablets are routinely smuggled to the US by air 
courier or in postal orexpress-mail packages. The DEA's Hague office 
recorded the seizure of more than 3.5m Ecstasy tablets be tween January and 
October 1999 destined for the US market (seized in both the United States 
and Europe).

The DEA also estimates that 75% of the heroin arriving in the Netherlands 
is for onward shipment throughout Europe, the US and Canada.

In contrast with the official approach of the Dutch government, which 
differentiates between hard and soft drug traffickers, the DEA notes: 
"Dutch hashish traffickers are increasingly distributing heroin, cocaine 
and amphetamine to other countries. This 'poly-drug' activity is being 
encountered more and more frequently."

The heroin trail begins in Afghanistan, the world's largest producer of 
opium. Although a reduction in the amount of land being cultivated for 
poppies is predicted for this year, the trend in the volume of opium 
production has been steadily upwards. Production has risen by 33% in the 
past three years, according to US estimates, and 80% of illegal opiate 
products in Europe come from Afghanistan.

The traditional route for heroin trafficking was through Pakistan and Iran, 
but the latter has become more problematic. The Iranian government has sent 
its troops into bloody battles with increasingly sophisticated drug 
traffickers from Afghanistan, so the traffickers have moved their routes north.

The DEA says: "Reports of heroin shipments north from Afghanistan through 
the central Asian states to Russia have increased. Tajikistan is reported 
to be a favourite destination for both opium and heroin shipments."

The usual destination for shipments from the central Asian states is 
Turkey, which "plays a significant role in the conversion of opiates from 
source countries in southwest Asia and the trans-shipment of heroin to the 
worldwide market, particularly Europe". It is estimated that between four 
and six tonnes of heroin is either processed in Turkey or transits through 
the country each month.
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