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STEMMING THE FLOW ON THE HEROIN TRA



Subject: STEMMING THE FLOW ON THE HEROIN TRAIL

 
THE AGE  6/8/97
                        Stemming the flow on the heroin trail

                        DESPITE the billions of dollars spent every year
fighting the
                        drug war, the enemy is inexhaustible. Drugs may change
                        countries of origin and methods of transit, but
supplies keep
                        coming. 

                        Even limited success can create other problems. US
pressure
                        against Colombian cocaine, for example, encouraged
                        Colombians to produce heroin, starting in 1991. And
to help
                        break into the US market, the Colombians dramatically
                        increased the purity of heroin and lowered prices.
This meant it
                        could be inhaled rather than injected.

                        This has created a new demand in the US where heroin
is back
                        in style after nearly two decades in which cocaine
was the
                        fashionable drug. The US Drug Enforcement Administration
                        estimates that there are about 600,000 hard-core
heroin users in
                        the US, and about two million who have tried the
drug. But there
                        is increasing nervousness that these figures may
rise sharply as a
                        new generation discovers "heroin chic". 

                        President Bill Clinton has been critical of the
increasing use of
                        heroin chic poses in fashion photographs. The other
side of the
                        picture is showing up with a doubling of heroin
admissions to
                        hospital emergency rooms since 1990. Even so, American
                        heroin consumption remains a small part of the world
market -
                        about 5 per cent. 

                        Most opium is consumed in the source countries or
exported to
                        Europe. The DEA estimates worldwide illicit opium
production
                        at 4157 metric tonnes in 1995, up from 3409 tonnes
in 1994.
                        More than 2500 tonnes came from South-East Asia, in
                        particular Burma, which was responsible for about 90
per cent
                        of the regional production. The conversion ratio of
opium to
                        heroin is about 10 to one and the increase in opium
production is
                        showing no sign of levelling off.

                        There are four main areas of global supply: 

                        South-East Asia, including production in Laos, Thailand,
                        Cambodia and Vietnam.

                        South-West Asia and the Middle East, including
Afghanistan,
                        Turkey, Pakistan and Lebanon. Much of this goes to
Europe.

                        Mexico, with cheap but low-quality supplies of black
tar and
                        brown heroin destined almost entirely for the West
and southern
                        states of the US. 

                        South America, especially Colombia. 

                        The latest State Department report on international
narcotics
                        control says Australia has the potential to be a
transit point for
                        US-bound heroin and for cocaine destined for
South-East Asia
                        but says there is no evidence of this. The DEA, in
contrast,
                        believes that there is at least some evidence of
Australian links.

                        The DEA includes Australia in a list of transit
countries in the
                        region and says that according to the Australian
Federal Police
                        Nigerian traffickers have recruited Australians to
deliver heroin
                        to the US. 

                        The importance of Nigerian traffickers in the
South-East Asian
                        heroin trade is an oddity of the cycles of the
marketing and
                        distribution systems that straddle the world. 

                        According to the DEA, the Nigerian groups are formed
on tribal
                        lines and often controlled from Lagos via
telephones. They use a
                        large stable of couriers smuggling one to
10-kilogram quanties of
                        heroin per airline trip and use aliases and loose
stuctures. 

                        By contrast, the ethnic Chinese gangs - the biggest
distributors
                        of South-East Asian heroin - use mainly commercial
cargo to
                        transport large quantities of heroin. Containers go
through
                        several countries or the documentation is falsified
to disguise the
                        trail. Most of the region's heroin is produced along the
                        Burma-Thai and Burma-China borders. 

                        The US had hoped that the "surrender" of the
principal Burmese
                        drug lord Khun Sa and his army at the beginning of
last year
                        would improve matters, but it seems this was largely
a public
                        relations exercise and he has continued narcotic
operations. At
                        the same time, Thai efforts to stop Thailand being a
transit route
                        mean that China is increasingly being used to move
Burmese
                        heroin, and there are reports of increasing amounts
of drugs
                        from Vietnam and Laos. 

                        There is still little evidence of production in
China although the
                        DEA is concerned this may change. 

                        The State Department singles out Malaysia as a key
transit
                        country. It also says that as interdiction efforts
in the region
                        become more sophisticated, the attractiveness of
Indonesia as a
                        transit point for drugs going to Australia, Europe
and the US is
                        likely to grow.