The 2006 CIA World Factbook

by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

United Kingdom
producer of limited amounts of synthetic drugs and
synthetic precursor chemicals; major consumer of Southwest Asian
heroin, Latin American cocaine, and synthetic drugs;
money-laundering center

United States
world's largest 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; government continues to face domestic
opium/heroin/methamphetamine addiction problems despite longstanding
crackdowns

World
cocaine: worldwide coca cultivation in 2004 amounted to
166,200 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of
the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure
cocaine production of 645 metric tons in 2004 marked the lowest
level of Andean cocaine production in the past 10 years; Colombia
conducts aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian and
Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key growing
areas; 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: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation reached 258,630
hectares in 2004; potential opium production of 5,444 metric tons
was highest total recorded since estimates began in mid-1980s;
Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting for 91% of
the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 7% of global
opium - continued to diminish in importance in the world opium
market; Latin America produced 2% of global opium, but most refined
into heroin destined for United States; if all opium processed into
pure heroin, the potential global production would be 632 metric
tons of heroin in 2004

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 19 December, 2006

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