United States
consumer of cocaine shipped from Colombia through
Mexico and the Caribbean; consumer of heroin, marijuana, and
increasingly methamphetamine from Mexico; consumer of high-quality
Southeast Asian heroin; illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana,
depressants, stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine;
money-laundering center
Uzbekistan
transit country for Afghan narcotics bound for Russian
and, to a lesser extent, Western European markets; limited illicit
cultivation of cannabis and small amounts of opium poppy for
domestic consumption; poppy cultivation almost wiped out by
government crop eradication program; transit point for heroin
precursor chemicals bound for Afghanistan
Venezuela
small-scale illicit producer of opium and coca for the
processing of opiates and coca derivatives; however, large
quantities of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana transit the country
from Colombia bound for US and Europe; significant narcotics-related
money-laundering activity, especially along the border with Colombia
and on Margarita Island; active eradication program primarily
targeting opium; increasing signs of drug-related activities by
Colombian insurgents on border
Vietnam
minor producer of opium poppy; probable minor transit point
for Southeast Asian heroin; domestic opium/heroin/methamphetamine
addiction problems
World
cocaine: worldwide, coca is grown on an estimated 173,450
hectares-almost exclusively in South America with 70% in Colombia;
potential cocaine production during 2003 is estimated at 728 metric
tons (or 835 metric tons of export quality cocaine); coca
eradication programs continue in Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru; 376
metric tons of export quality cocaine are documented to have been
seized in 2003, and 26 metric tons disrupted (jettisoned or
destroyed); consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to
have been 800 metric tons
opiates: cultivation of opium poppy occurred on an estimated 137,944
hectares in 2003-mostly in Southwest and Southeast Asia-with 44% in
Afghanistan, potentially produced 3,775 metric tons of opium - which
conceivably could be converted to the equivalent of 429 metric tons
of pure heroin; opium eradication programs have been undertaken in
Afghanistan, Burma, Colombia, Mexico, Pakistan, Thailand, and Vietnam
Zambia
transshipment point for moderate amounts of methaqualone,
small amounts of heroin, and cocaine bound for Southern Africa and
possibly Europe; a poorly developed financial infrastructure coupled
with a government commitment to combating money laundering make it
an unattractive venue for money launderers
Zimbabwe
transit point for African cannabis and South Asian heroin,
mandrax, and methamphetamines destined for the South African and
European markets
This page was last updated on 10 February, 2005
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