Arab world unrest profits drug trade
LACK OF INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK TO COMBAT DEMAND AND SUPPLY ALLOWS TRAFFICKERS TO EXPLOIT SECURITY LOOPHOLES, EXPERTS SAY
Lack of framework to combat demand and supply allows traffickers to exploit security loopholes
11.8m captagon pills seized in UAE last year, from just 2,501 in 2011.
169 people arrested for captagon trafficking between 2013 and 2015.
310m captagon pills seized globally in 2015, from 178 million in 2014.
The demand for amphetamine type stimulants (ATS), which include captagon, has seen a significant increase globally in the past few years, fuelled by political instability in the Arab region, experts at a drugs forum said yesterday.
Statistics from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) report showed a 21 per cent increase in methamphetamine seizures in 2014, 16 per cent in amphetamine seizures and 12.2 per cent in ecstasy seizures worldwide.
Speakers at Dubai Police’s 12th Hemaya international forum on drug issues also said that captagon production has become a profitable business for terrorist organisations.
Lt Gen Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, Dubai Police Chief, said: “Despite international and national efforts by governments and institutions, the problem lies in the lack of an integrated framework, as combating the demand and combating supply are two separate strategies. This creates large gaps exploited by international drug traffickers to spread their poison,” he said.
Col Abdul Rahman Al Owais, deputy director of the Federal Directorate General of Drug Combating in the Ministry of Interior, said the UAE seized 11.8 million captagon pills in 2015, an increase from just 2,501 pills in 2011. “In the years between 2013 and 2015, we arrested 169 people involved in captagon trafficking,” he said. Of these, 49 were Emiratis, 95 were Arabs, and 25 were from other nationalities, mostly Asians.
Col Al Owais said: “Although there are some cases of captagon use in the UAE, it is mostly a transit country that traffickers use to get the drugs to destination countries.”
He noted that drug traffickers use novel methods to smuggle drugs through the UAE, including hiding them in electrical cords, large water heaters, and wooden door frames.
Martin Raithelhubler, from the UNODC in Vienna, said the ATS trafficking market is behaving very differently from all other drug trafficking.
“Other drugs [trafficking] have been increasing in the past 15 years, but not as dramatically. With some drugs like cocaine, we have even seen signs of stability in trafficking data, but when we look at ATS, there are a lot of ups and downs, and a recent peak.”
In the past, ATS did not feature prominently in drug seizures, but now it’s the second highest globally following cannabis which also puts a burden on law enforcement, he said.