Drug Abuse in the Global Village

Drug Abuse in Eastern Europe

                                                                Drug Seizures

BELARUS
Drugs seized in 1991 were cannabis (10 kg) and cannabis plants (21.800 kg), opium plants (197 kg), opium (raw and processed) (4.300 kg) and 114 units of synthetic narcotics (U.N. 1991 Part C).

BULGARIA
Twenty nine seizures of heroin (145 kg) and 3 seizures of cannabis resin (27 kg) were reported in 1991. Quantities of seized heroin have been increasing since 1988, that of cannabis resin decreased in the same period (U.N. 1988 1989 1990 and 1991).

CROATIA
No information reported in Annual Reports Questionnaire by 31st December 1993.

CZECHOSLOVAKIA
Seizures of heroin increase to 129 kg in 1992 from 5 kg in 1990. Cannabis seizures have also increased. Cocaine seizures have decreased from 104 kg in 1991 to 3 kg in November 1992 (Czechoslovakian Narcotic Office 1992).

HUNGARY
Most seized drugs in Hungary are heroin (4 kg in 1990), Cannabis (580 kg), morphine (3 000 ml), poppy, opium and derivatives (220 kg). Trafficking and seizures increased since the opening of the borders to Bulgaria and Romania and the war in Yugoslavia (Hungary 1991).

LATVIA
In 1992 114.8 kg of poppy straw, 4.8 kg of herbal cannabis, 5.5 kg of cannabis resin, 3.04 litres of opium extract, 0.135 litres of ephedron, 2.1 kg of pressed opium and 1.5 kg of MDA were seized (Nordic-Baltic Meeting 1993).

            A operation of production and smuggling of amphetamines from Latvia was uncovered (One million tablets in Riga and 15 million in Frankfurt in 1993). Border controls are reported inefficient, mainly due to the lack of experienced staff. Two big shipments of cannabis (1.2 tons and 3 tons) from Azerbaidjan or other central Asian Republics were detected in 1993. The destination of the shipments was undetermined. One shipment of opium of 300 kg, destined for Rotterdam, was detected (Ministry of Social Welfare 1993).

POLAND
Seizures carried out in Poland between 1989 and 1991 are detailed in table 1 (U.N. 1991).

Table 1. Seizures of illicit drugs in Poland 1989-1991.
                                                                                                                       
1989                            1990                            1991
Cannabis herb               -                            11.000 kg                          8.030 kg
Cocaine                         -                            -                                         109.800 kg
Heroin                          -                             -                                         13.000 kg
Opiates                 0.160 kg                       -                                         -
Opium (plants/      4500.000 kg                  2040.000 kg                      -
 capsules)
Depressants           0.710 kg                       -                                         -
Hallucinogens        0.015 kg                        -                                         -
Stimulants              16.000 kg                     -                                         5.000 kg
                                                                                               
Source: Reply to the UNDCP Annual Reports Questionnaire for the year 1991.

ROMANIA
In 1991, 13.170 kg of cocaine, 12.372 kg of heroin, 10 kg of opium and 0.161 kg of cannabis were seized. A strong increase in the illicit traffic of heroin, opium and cocaine in Romania has been reported in 1991 (U.N. 1991).

RUSSIA
The volume of narcotic drugs seized has increased by 30 times from 1983 to 1993, and in 1991 totalled more than 20 tonnes (Policy 1993). In 1991, 41 seizures of cannabis herb (77.9 kg), 28 seizures of cannabis resin (more than 3 tonnes), 11 seizures of opium (2.8 kg), 6 seizures of heroin (13.2 kg), 5 seizures of cocaine (12.7 kg) and one seizure of stimulants (0.902 kg) were reported (U.N. 1991).

SLOVENIA
Quantities of seized drugs have increased between 1989 and 1991, as shown in table 1.Table 1. Seizures of illicit drugs 1989-1991.
                                                                                               
1989                            1990                                        1991
                                                                           
Heroin          0.493kg                           21.107kg                     8.723 kg
LSD             119 units                          752 units                      846 units
Cannabis
 oil                5 g                                   25 ml                                        -
Cannabis
 resin            0.035 kg                          1.257 kg                      15.000 kg
Herbal
 Cannabis      2.684 kg                         14.887 kg                    12.640 kg
Cannabis
 plants          1 865 units                       4 575 units                   1 670 units
Cocaine        0.005kg                           1.080kg                       22.085 kg
Morphine     0.029 kg                          2.580 kg                      -
                                                                           
Source: Report of Slovenia to the "Kriminal Kynology 1992 Conference", Budapest, 23-25 September 1992.

UKRAINE