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San Francisco. W e wo nder about the claims o f mo ney laundering in M exico w hen onthe U .S. side of the border, there are ma ny ban ks w hose transactions cou ld well besuspicious, not to me ntion banks in M iami or L os Ange les or N ew Y ork.

Hypocrisy and pol i t ics ar ise in that we bel ieve that some of the corrupt ion inM exico has been fostered by the U nited States, e i ther through the paym ent of br ibes

to obtain informa tion or to pay inform ers, or through the use o f drug trafficking asa polit ical tool to finance cove rt operations, as w e be lieve hap pen ed in the Cen tralAmerican war. Many Mexicans are convinced that some of the Mexican off ic ia lspublicly accused o f contact w ith the drug cartels are or hav e been a lso CIA assets.

The issue of polit ics also arises becau se w e think that too ma ny U.S. p oliticiansare qui te comfortable denouncing M exico w hile ignoring their own problems. Fre-quent ly the U nited States does not see m to hav e a real policy; and som etimes thedebate that exists can confuse things w hile ignoring the m ost impo rtant issues.

9 W ood row Wilson In te rna t iona l Cen ter for Scholars , 1998 .Reprinted withPermission.Telep hon e (202) 691-4030 Fa x (202) 691-4076 e-ma il lap@ ww ic.si .edu

Ob servatoire G ~opolit ique des Drogues, Th e W orld Geopolit ics o f Drugs, 1997/1998 A nn ual Report , P aris, France, O ctober, 1998.

Introduction

Why Publish an Annual Report on the Global Geopolitics of Drugs? ~[ . .. ] The echo O GD reports hav e encountered in the world press , w hich publ ishedm any articles about them, proves that they answ er a w idespread need. Indeed, whileit cannot be de nied that il legal drugs play a lead ing role in ec ono m ic matters (Burma,Colom bia, Japan, M exico, U nited Kingd om ), local conflicts (Afghanistan, Turkey,Ko sovo, Sen egal, Colom bia) and the "c rimina lization" of state institutions (Nige-ria, Mexico, Pakistan, Paraguay, Russia, Turkey), so far there was no publicationproviding a global approach on their geopolit ics. By this, we mean the impact ofthe production , tra ffick ing and consum pt ion of d rugs and m oney launder ing on

pow er relations inside a country (internal geopo litics) and o n the e cono mic, politi-cal and mili tary conflicts opposing several states (international geopolit ics). Theonly two other annual reports deal ing with the worldwide drug s i tuat ion sufferfrom several constraints and do no t provide a geopo litical approach. In 199 7, O G Dco m m ente d on the report by the International Narcotics Con trol Boa rd (INC B), aU N body, "this is a technical instrume nt w hich attempts to evaluate the situation invarious world regions and in particular to assess how far United Nations resolu-tions are being enforce d by the various countries concerned. It is draw n up chieflyfrom na tional reports supplied by m em ber countries, against w ho m allegations can-

not therefore be m ade by the Board. W he n certain countries fail to fulfi ll som e oftheir obligations to an over-obv ious extent, they are gen tly upbraided at most. Theother report is publ ished by the United States Department of State and is more"com mit ted", but o nly in de fense of the nat ional interest of the wo rld 's only super-

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power. T herefore , the State D epartment report m ust be read wh ile keeping in m indthe state of US relations with the countries concerned. This U S repo rt is accom pa-nied by the so-called "certification" process, whose arbitrary character has oftenbe en stressed.

The OGD report (OGD is a non-profi t organizat ion under the French law on

associations of 1901) is jointly fun ded by several insti tutions includin g the Euro-pea n U nion, but no polit ical, diplom atic or strategic conc essions are required fromOG D in return. The E uropean U nion stresses the O GD report is in no case a reflec-t ion of its ow n views. Then, O GD ' s is the on ly truly indepe nde nt report on thew orldw ide drug situation. It is w rit ten based o n the contributions of so m e 200 cor-respondents drawn from the press, scienti f ic and NG O com mu nit ies of about 100countries, to w hich must be add ed the research carried out by the O GD staff basedin Paris. The data and analyses produced by OGD are compared to those publishedby internation al organizations, such as UN DC P, Interpol, Europ ol, W orld Cu stom s

Organization, and national b odies (police, universities, NG Os) active in the field ofdrugs. To this end, O GD writes each year to a large num ber of national insti tutionsin order to obtain access to official statistics, information and analyses.

Ho w to Use the Ann ua l Repor t[ . . .] This year, a ne w approach on careful ly selected aspects has be com e al l them ore necessary because i t wa s also decid ed to write shorter chapters. For instanc ein the case of Russia, while the 1997 edi tion provided a com prehen sive approachof cr iminal networks, this year 's report focuses on Central Asian routes and the

ne w antidrug legislation. L ikew ise for Me xico, w here i t was d ecid ed to analyse thepart played by the narcotraffic ahead o f the presidential election in the year 2000.As far as Belg ium is conce rned, the article is m ade up of a d etailed analysis of am em oran dum of the jus t ice min is try w hich opens the poss ib i li ty of s ign i f ican tchan ges in the Belgian approach on drug ad diction and w hich could have a signifi-cant impact in other countries of Europe. For France, the 199 7 report focus ed onthe cou ntry's relations with i ts n eighbors, especially the N etherlands, so this year i twa s preferred to study groups o f drug-users and the de velo pm en t of a risk reduc-tion policy. This new approach helps to distinguish further the OGD report from

tho se of nationa l and international organizations, w hic h approach all the cou ntriesthey cover in the sam e w ay. [. . .]

On two occasions in the present edi tion, two countries are covered in the samechapter and on on e occasion a s ingle chapter covers one country and a region of aneigh boring country. Such a geop olit ical approach w ill be easily understood in thecase of Slovakia and the C zech Republic , wh ich belonged to the sam e country notso long ago an d w here ma ny trafficking network s are stil l integrated. In the case ofthe Gambia and Guinea-Bissau , the two are more un i ted than separa ted by theCasam ance region of Senegal. Th e rebels of the M ove m ent of De moc rat ic Forces

of Casam ance (MFDC) are Diolas, an ethnic group also present in the Gam bia andGuinea-Bissau, in both of which the M FD C has rearbases . Traff icking networkswo rk both ways, t ransport ing mari juana and weapo ns to and from the G amb ia andGuinea-Bissau by sea and by road.

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This report a lso contains var ious theme-based chapters l is ted under the header"Analys i s" . "The Wor ld of Synthe t ic Drugs" ana lyses the ro le of a g roup of sub-stances a t the level of traff icking and consump tion. "H eroin Markets and N etworksin Europe" reviews the new dis t r ibut ion pol icy of internat ional organized cr ime inEurope. A s im ilar approach is used to s tudy the role of narc-touris ts in the G ulf of

Guinea, a region where short networks are more am ateurish. "Th e 'Caribbean izat ion 'of the Indian Ocean" focuses on money laundering techniques in the region, whichimplies a comparison with the s i tuat ion in the Caribbean. The ar t ic le on Mexican-US re la t ions examines the mos t impor tan t p roblem of drug geopol i t i cs in Nor thAm er ica . F ina l ly, the Uni ted Kingdom and South Afr ica have an impact fa r beyondtheir borders , wh ich warrants m ore space than wou ld have been al lowed i f they hadbeen reviewed in the geographical section of the report . System atic references havebeen made be tween the count ry s tud ies and the theme-based chapters . L ikewise ,re fe rences a re made to o ther OGD publ ica t ions conta in ing informat ion which i t

was not possible to use due to the space l imit imp osed the present report . [ . . . ]

Tr e n d s f o r1 9 9 7 - 1 9 9 8

1997 and 1998 have w itnessed the cont inuat ion and extension of the m ore imp or-tant t rends observed during past years . These include the expansion and divers i f i -cat ion of i l legal crops, the decentral izat ion of large organizat ions and an increasein the number of "shor t ne tworks" , the f ragmenta t ion of d rug marke ts by way ofpolydrug use and poly drug t raff icking, and the prevalence of synthet ic s t imulants .

The most s t r iking new element is the expl ic i t recogni t ion by internat ional orga-

nizat ions and developed countr ies that the phenomenon understated by the WorldBank as "bad governance" (corrupt ion--high-level cr ime) now plays a central rolein the development of drug t raff icking.

Several major countr ies , l ike Russia (and many former Soviet Republ ics) , Tur-key, Mexico, e tc . , are now at the center of an increasingly conspicuous al l iancebetw een o rganized crim inal structures and h igh levels of the state i tself . In Japan,organized cr im e (yakuza) is behind 30% of the bad debt which has provo ked thecurrent f inancial cr is is . In less developed countr ies , par t icular ly on the Afr icancont inent , the pr ivat izat ion of s ta te-owned companies is now the main vehicle for

recycl ing drug m oney thanks to corruption. In this wa y a new and dis tor ted "dev el-opment" model is emerging which, while enr iching the el i te c lasses , a lso encour-ages chaos . This "c r imina l iza t ion of po l i t i cs" i s beg inning to ac t as a b rake ondevelopm ent as m afia activi ties produce m uch larger and especial ly quicker prof i tsthan legitimate activit ies do.

W hen legi timate businesses survive, i t i s of ten as "fron ts" for cr iminal act ivi t ies .In ma ny count r ies of the South , the sam e opera tors f requent ly cont ro l , o r evenmonopolize , the most lucrat ive act ivi t ies whether formal or informal , legal or i l le-gal . Legi t imate and cr iminal interests have become so inter twined in some par ts of

the wor ld tha t the f ron t ie r be tween the two has become pure ly theore t ica l . Theresul t is that whole sectors of the legi timate econ om y and m il lions of jobs depen don the cont inua t ion of i l l ega l dea l ings , inc lud ing the mos t lucra t ive of a l l , d rugtraff icking. Informali ty, which is the main form of economic act ivi ty in the major-

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i ty of less developed countr ies , has a lso penetrated whole sectors of the economyin developed countr ies . I t i s thus becoming the forerunner of drug t raff icking andthe laundering of i ts prof i ts .

These i l l ic i t act ivi t ies comprise a growing par t of polydrug t raff icking. The ma-jor i ty of c r imina l o rganiza t ions which in the ear ly 1990s s t i l l spec ia l ized in the

dis t r ibut ion of a s ingle drug (heroin for the Turkish maffyas , Albanian fares , andChinese t r iads; cocaine for the Colombian "car te ls" ; amphetamine for the Japaneseyakuz a) , as w el l as sm all "short ne two rk" operators 4 (am ong wh ich are narc- tour-istsS) , now transport and offer a com plete range of products to nat ional and interna-t ional markets , responding im m ediately, or even givin g rise to new consu m er t rends.This po lydrug t ra ff ick ing a l so in tegra tes o ther products which these same smug-glers do not hesi ta te to t ransport to markets where demand is s t rong: nuclear mate-r ia ls in Rus sia and Turkey, for exam ple; arm s in the Balka ns and A fr ica , in par ticular ;c igare t tes in As ia , Europe , La t in Amer ica and Nor th Afr ica , e tc . ; s to len cars in

Southern and W est Afr ica , Eastern Europe, M exico, the M iddle East , e tc. ; not for-ge t t ing i l l ega l immigrants f rom Afr ica , As ia and the Middle Eas t to Europe andfrom As ia and La t in Am erica to the Un ited States; e tc .

The Mafia Mo del A "Developm ent" Model?The crash of the Mexican econom y in 1995 (and aga in in 1998) and s im i la r p rob-lems experienced in Russia and Japan s ince la te summer 1998 probably const i tutethe f i r s t m ajor f inanc ia l c ri ses in the h i s tory of contemporary soc ie ty w hose p r inc i-pa l ca ta lys t i s a maf ia - like managem ent of the economy. The problems a re no longer

of a quant i ta t ive nature , such as the percentage of prof i ts s temming from cr iminalac t iv i t i es (and more spec i f ica l ly from drug t ra ff ick ing) and red is tr ibu ted w i th instate inst i tut ions or laundered through the economy. The problems are much morefundamenta l now and revolve a round the major bar r ie r p resen ted to ra t iona l eco-nomic deve lopment and democra t ic ins t i tu t ions as a whole .

Like in Russ ia , maf ia - l ike prac t ices charac te r ize the management of two la rgeeconomies l inked to the wor ld ' s two lead ing economic powers : Mexico ( l inked tothe United States through NAFTA) and Turkey ( l inked to Europe via t rade agree-ments ) . Corrupt ion , which has long been endemic south of the Rio Bravo and on

the shores of the Bosphorus , has changed in na ture dur ing the las t few years . Onthis fer t i le ground, the debt cr is is , s t ructural adjustment imposing market reformswithout fundamental pol i t ical change and local confl ic ts have resul ted in a l l iancesbeing forged between governments , pol i t ical par t ies , the f inancial sector, and mafiaent i t ies , or even the t ransformation of pol i t ical par t ies into cr iminal organizat ions.

Far from b eing isolated cases, the countries defined by the O G D as "narc-states '6,such as Burma and Pakistan, can in retrospect be seen as precursors of the situationnow prevai l ing in Mexico and Turkey. In these countr ies , old but anecdotal l inksbetween pol i t ics and cr ime, between drug money and banking inst i tut ions, funct ion

as st ]'uctural ly c om plim entary elem ents today. This logic make s " in form ali ty " notonly the source o f capital accumulation, but also the solution to "difficulties" inhe rentto the s ta te and to the rule of law. In Turkey, the extreme r ight wing po l i t ical-cr iminalorganization of the Gray Wolves, w hich is financed by hero in trafficking, is protected

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The sway ing back and for th be tween lega l and i l l ega l ac t iv i ti es ( in Angola , Cam -bodia , the DRC, Kenya , Tha i land , e tc . ) , has thus re inforced the menta l i ty whichviews recourse to mafia pract ices as a response to cr is is : a way to overcome handi-caps l inked to g loba l iza t ion and comply, a t l eas t on paper, wi th the demands ofs t ructural adjustment , and/or s imply to meet their debts to western banks and the

In t e rna t iona l Mone ta ry Fund (Bo l iv i a , C6 te d ' Ivo i r e , Ghana , Mex ico , Morocco ,Nigeria , Peru, Sudan, e tc . ) . The internat ional community turns a bl ind eye as sev-eral key W estern countr ies have al l ies to please, markets to protect, and loans to berefunded . Thus , ce r ta in men, par t ies and ins t i tu t ions ( the mi l i t a ry in par t icu la r )have been ab l e to m ove f rom a po l it i c a l monopo ly t o con tro l o f the p r iva t izedsec tors of the i r count r ies ' "ma rke t -or ien ted" econ om y (Albania , Egypt , Mexico ,Pe ru , Russ i a , Tanzan ia , Tun i s i a , Tu rkey, fo rmer Yugos l av i a , e t c . ) . Today "ex -apparachiks" , "embargo busters" , "freedom f ighters" , "warlords" , e tc . cont inue toen joy the pres t ige confer red on them in the pas t fo r f igh t ing in the name of " the

cause" (whether po l i t i ca l , na t iona l i s t ic , o r re l ig ious) . They a l so main ta in the ad-vantages of the pro tec t ion of those s ta tes for which they s t ruggled , though nowthey work on the i r own beha l f . They a re ab le to use wi th impuni ty the i r fo rmer ly"spec ia l ized" ne tworks to t ranspor t "new" products , inc lud ing drugs , nuc lear ma-ter ia ls , i l legal laborers , prost i tutes , e tc . , whose i l legal nature s imply adds value tothe "product" .

This co l lus ion be tween s ta tes and c r imina l e lements has become so widespreadthat i t i s expanding into the open. W orld powers , a t least those w hich w ould l ike to ,a re usua l ly unable to censure i t because they would f ind themselves w i thout "c red-

ible" negot ia t ing par tners in sensi t ive areas of the world. This problem of credibi l -i ty was expressed in i ts c rudes t form a t the Uni ted Nat ions Genera l Assem bly S pec ia lSess ion on Drugs (U NG AS S) in New York in June 1998. The s logan for the spec ia ls e s s ion was "Un i t ed Aga ins t Drugs" bu t s eve ra l dozen speake rs ( from heads o f-s ta te , to pr ime minis ters or their representat ives) had, or had had, l inks to cr iminalorganizat ions, drug t raff icking, or money laundering, e i ther personal ly or indirect lyas authori t ies of the countr ies they represented.

Consumption Boom s and DiversifiesI t is not surpr is ing, against such a background, that drug use is r is ing throughoutthe world. However, the global increase is different ia ted. The global ized drug mar-ket hides s ignif icant dispar i t ies between countr ies and inside them. While t raff ick-ing ne tworks a re drawing new pol i t i ca l and economic borders , new consumpt ion"models" are paint ing the picture of global drug use in the 21st century.

Ind ica t ions re la ted to the consumpt ion of "c lass ic" drugs such as cannabis de-r iva t ives , hero in , and c rack in Europe and the Uni ted S ta tes remain for the mos tpar t s table . The t rend which emerged in 1995-1997 of an increase in a l l synthet icdrugs--s t imulants ( including ecstasy) , synthet ic opiates , s teroids and other perfor-

mance-enhanc ing subs tances (whose use i s no longer l imi ted to se r ious a th le tes ) -for the m os t par t continues and i s becom ing the m ain w orry of au thor it ies in W este rncoun t r i e s . Whi l e consumpt ion in t he Wes t a s sumes an e s sen t i a l l y " r ec rea t iona l "na ture , in the res t o f the wor ld i t i s very qu ick ly t ransforming in to a mass drug

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addic t ion , wi th the explos ion of "u t i l i t a r ian" uses ( f rom t ruck dr ivers in As ia tofarmers and gold w ashers in A fr ica 's S ahel region) 1~

Thou gh t rad i tiona l ind ica tors genera l ly show s tagnant o r even lower h ero in con-sumption in some European countr ies (but not a l l ) , i t would seem that this drop/s tagnat ion is res t r ic ted to use among what are usual ly viewed as marginal groups,

which in jec t the hero in . But th i s reduc t ion in " t rad i t iona l" hero in use could beoffse t by the deve lopment of new m arke ts charac te r ized by "norma l ized" drug con-sumpt ion and polydruguse . Wi th in the f ramework of po lydruguse , i t appears tha to ther consumpt ion models ( snor ted and espec ia l ly smoked hero in) a re evolv ingand a ffec t ing pro tec ted and soc ia l ly - in tegra ted popula t ions ( such as those whichconsum e cocaine hy drochlor ide) H. An other feature of these extrem ely var ied groupsis that their drug use resul ts in pract ical ly no s t reet crime w hile i t i s a lso l ike ly thathero in use among the i r members does no t cause as many hea l th problems as inm arginal ized sectors . A t any rate, potent ia l problem s are solved outs ide publ ic he al th

and pol ice bodies . A s a resul t, these groups do not sh ow up (or very l i t t le) in off ic ia ls ta t is t ics and their prof i les are i l l -def ined . . , except b y t raff ickers on the lookou t fornew t rends . At very compet i t ive pr ices , the dea le rs o ffe r these consumers "pro-tected" by their social s tanding types of heroin whose puri ty encourages the devel-opm ent of new consum ption m odels 12.

Less deve loped and em erg ing count r ies a re w i tness ing s ign i f ican t increases indrug addic t ion . In many Asian count r ies , such as China , Tha i land , and Pakis tan ,consumption of synthet ic s t imulants are making inroads into markets t radi t ional lycentered on heroin. In other Asian countr ies , such as Japan, the Phi l ippines , and

Indonesia , syn the tic drugs a re the mos t consum ed and en joy grow ing success am ongyouth . In Afr ica , hero in i s now wide ly used , espec ia l ly on the eas t coas t (Kenya ,Tanzania , Mozambique , and Maur i t ius ) where i t s re ta i l p r ice remains re la t ive lylow and close to the pr ices charged in producer countr ies l ike Pakis tan. In the largesea ports o f West Afr ica 13, s l ight ly highe r pr ices have not ha m pered the spread ofthe opiate , which is of ten accompanied by crack cocaine. Heroin and cocaine com-pete wi th cannabis der iva t ives , d iver ted medic ines and a lcohol ( f requent ly home-m ade or adulterated), w hich rema in the m ost used psych otropic substances in Afr ica .Whi le in some count r ies where cannabis , medic ines and a lcohol a re a l so wide ly

abused the spread of crack consumption is l imited (as in Senegal and Nigeria , forinstance), the drug 's use is explod ing in South Afr ica , wh ere app roxim ately 150,000users have been counted. In Lat in Am erica, new m arkets are a lso develop ing: sm okedcoca ine base pas te in Braz i l , Chi le , Colombia and Cent ra l Amer ica : c rack in theCaribbean ~4, Brazi l ( in Sgo Paulo) , a nd Ce ntral Am erica; in M exico, heroin is a lsos lowly but sure ly ca tch ing on , whi le methamphetamine abuse i s booming and co-ca ine and LS D use a re spreading in the m iddle and upper c lasses .

The W orld of Synthetic Drugs

"Synthe t ic narco t ics wi l l be the n igh tmare of the year 2000 ," accord ing to JohnAbbot , head of Bri ta in 's Nat ional Criminal Intel l igence Service (NCIS), in spr ing1 99 8 . Tw o y e a r s e a r li e r , w h e n U S a u t h o r i t ie s w e r e p r e o c c u p i e d w i t h t h eme tha rnphe tamine ep idemic , t he "c r ack o f the 1990s, " t he European Un ion de -

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ac te r i s t ics o f syn the t ic drugs , which could a lmos t be re fe r red to as v i r tua l d rugs .Vi r tua l i t y a l so r e f e r s t o ano the r a spec t o f syn the t i c d rugs ' "mode rn i ty" : t he sesubs tances f i t in to the mindse t o f ne twork ing . Ecs tasy and "c lub drugs" a re thebes t i l lus t ra t ions . Consumpt ion habi t s have spread out f rom ne tworks of in i t i a tesma de up o f i nc reas ing ly r e s tr i c ted c i r c l es . G ay g roups h ave p l aye d a dec id ing

ro le in th i s p rocess. F i r s t o f a l l in the mid-1980s wi th the ex por t o f ecs tasy f rom"ac id house" d i sco theques in the Uni ted S ta tes to the i r counterpar t s in Europe .But a l so , s ince the ear ly 1990s , w i th the popular iza t ion of recrea tiona l use of aser ies of new subs tances , o f ten fo l lowing a l ine l ink ing "gay cap i ta l s" London,San Franc isco , Miami , Sydney, and Cape Town. In th i s way two o ther products ,i n i ti a l l y popu la ri zed b y the gay com muni ty, bene f i t f rom the ban n ing o fRohypnol|i n t he Un i t ed S t a t e s . The i r u se i s deve lop ing in Miami and in o the r l a rge Eas tCoas t c i t i es . One of the drugs i s GHB (gamrnal iyroxybutyra te ) , a seda t ive usedas a s leep ing p i l l in the 1960s and 1970s . I t then became popular among body

bui lders for i t s ab i l i ty to s t im ula te growth hormone s . I t appeared in 1995-19 96on the European techno scene , th i s t ime for i t s euphor ic and uninhib i t ing e ffec t ,accentua ted by a lcohol consumpt ion ( in the Uni ted S ta tes i t i s known as anotherda t e r ape d rug , a long the l i ne s o f f l un i t r azepam) . The o the r d rug i s ke t amine(ke t amine hyd roch lo r ide , a l so known a s "Spec i a l K" ) . Th i s i s a ha l l uc inogen ict r anqu i l i ze r u sed in ve t e r ina ry med ic ine and chemica l ly c lo se t o phencyc l id ine(PCP) . I t s d i s t r ibu t ion has spread f rom g ynm asium s to d i sco theques . In the Uni tedSta tes i t s sa le i s on ly res t r ic ted (and not banned) in mos t s ta tes . But ke tamine i sc lass i f ied as a narco t ic in New York . And f ina l ly, an ecs tasy - re la ted drug up to

then unknown in the Uni ted S ta tes made i t s appearance in Miami in 1993 . Nexus ,o r 2C-B , came to t he US f rom Cape Town , Sou th Af r i ca . New means o f commu-nica t ions such as the in temet have a l so p layed a ro le in the spread of amphet -amine der iva t ives ( in d i scuss ion forums be tween users , exchange of prepara t ionrec ipes , and informat ion on the la tes t re la ted drugs) and a l l o ther subs tances as -soc ia ted wi th them in the rave cu l ture . [ . . . ]

N o t e s

1. Th eO G D annua l report published in 199 7 contains am uc h m ore detailed presentation of the specificity

of OGD reports; seeThe World Geopoli tics of Drugs ]995/1996,pp. 5-7, hereafter noted as WGD(1995-1996).4. For the OG D's definition of this term, see GDD-1995, pp. 8-1 2.5. For the OD G's definition of this term, see the chapter "European Heroin Markets and Networks".6. For the OGD 's definition of this term, seeEtat des drogu es, drogues des E tats,Hachette, Paris 1994.7. See chapter on Tu rkey in this report.8. See chapter "US-M exican relations with in NA FT A" in this report.9. See chapter "The Caribbeanization o f the India n Ocean".

10. See chapter "The World of Synthetic Drugs".11. See chapter "PolydrugUse and PolydrugTrafficking in the United Kingdom: A Mo del for Europe? "12. See chapter "Heroin Markets and Networks i n Europe".13. See chapter "G ulf of Guinea: Toward a Com mo n Drug M arket?"14. See chapter "France and Frenc h Antilles-G uyana ".15. See chapter on "Polydrug Trafficking an d Polydrug Use in the United Kingdom: A Model for Europe ?"

and "Sweden".

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9 Ob servatoire Gro pol i t ique des Drogues, France, 1998.Reprinted w ith Perm ission.Observa to i re G6opol i t ique des Drogues ]Geopol i t i ca l Drug Watch] i s a non-gov-ernmental organizat ion based in Par is . The ent i re text of the Annual Report , 1997/1998, in both Engl ish and French can be found at www.ogd.org.

European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Annual Reporton the S tate of the Drugs Problem in the E uropean U nion, Portugal, 1997.

[ . . . ] Europe in W orld I llegal Drug M arketsHere w e draw on the work of the EM CD DA 's in te rna t iona l par tners [ . . . ] a nd o therbodies to ga in a perspec t ive on the ro le p layed by Europe in g loba l i l l i c i t d rugmarkets . Europol 's contr ibut ion summarizes internat ional t rends in drug smugglingto EU consumers . Se l ec t ed t ex t s f rom the Wor ld Cus toms Organ i sa t i on (WCO)

and Interpol analyse the supply of heroin into the EU . IN C B 's 1996 report out linedthe m ain features o f drug use t rends on the c ont inent of Europe. A lso of value is theUSA's In te rna t iona l Narco t ics Cont ro l S t ra tegy Repor t which ident i f ies ( f rom theU.S. perspect ive) nat ions seen as major drug product ion or t ransi t countr ies . Whereappropriate the m ain pol icy concerns of these bodies are descr ibed in so far as theyrelate to European concerns.

EUR OPO L: New Openings for TraffickersEuropol 's contr ibut ion for this report reminds us that EU Members States are pr i -

m ari ly recipient /consum er countr ies for drugs. How ever, m ost are a lso transi t coun-tr ies , some are now producers and a few act as s taging posts for drugs or iginat ingelsewhe re ( ' seco nda ry dis t r ibut ion ' ) . The roles of different s ta tes as points of entryand t ransi t routes depend largely on their place in Europe 's highly developed inter-na t iona l t rade and t ranspor ta t ion sys tems and on geographica l , cu l tura l , h i s tor icand economic fac tors which may fac i l i t a te t rad ing l inks wi th drug producing na-t ions. M any E U co untr ies a lso legal ly produce and export chemicals wh ich ma y bediver ted to serve as precursors in the manufacture of i l l ic i t drugs outs ide the EU'sborders .

Europol s t resses that the cr iminal organisat ions which dominate drug t raff ickingfind in Europe a developing market , as f lexible smuggling routes and methods takeadvantage of the abol i t ion of in te rna l border cont ro ls and the expans ion of con-sumer demand for cer ta in types of d rugs . In th i s respec t Europol ' s Drugs Uni tconcentrates on heroin, cocaine, synthet ic drugs, and cannabis .

New Heroin DepotsThe vas t major i ty of hero in se ized in the E U or ig ina tes f rom South W est As ia be-fore being t ransported to Mem ber States m ainly by TIR 2 lorr ies t ravers ing the var i -

ous B alkan rou tes . C lass ica l ly these involve en t ry po in ts in B ulgaria , Ro m ania andHungary, bu t ( see WCO sec t ion be low) there has been d ivers i f ica t ion . However,EDU exper t s say new depots in Cent ra l and Eas te rn Europe have led to a sh i f t insm uggl ing pa t te rns .

98 TRENDS IN ORGANIZED CRIME ] WIN TER 199 8