United Arab Emirates
the UAE is a drug transshipment point for
traffickers given its proximity to Southwest Asian drug-producing
countries; the UAE's position as a major financial center makes it
vulnerable to money laundering; anti-money-laundering controls
improving, but informal banking remains unregulated
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), Colombian heroin, and
Mexican heroin and marijuana; major consumer of ecstasy and Mexican
methamphetamine; minor consumer of high-quality Southeast Asian
heroin; illicit producer of cannabis, marijuana, depressants,
stimulants, hallucinogens, and methamphetamine; money-laundering
center
Uruguay
small-scale transit country for drugs mainly bound for
Europe, often through sea-borne containers; law enforcement
corruption; money laundering because of strict banking secrecy laws;
weak border control along Brazilian frontier; increasing consumption
of cocaine base and synthetic drugs
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 leaf cultivation in 2007 amounted to
232,500 hectares; Colombia produced slightly more than two-thirds of
the worldwide crop, followed by Peru and Bolivia; potential pure
cocaine production decreased 7% to 865 metric tons in 2007; Colombia
conducts an aggressive coca eradication campaign, but both Peruvian
and Bolivian Governments are hesitant to eradicate coca in key
growing areas; 551 metric tons of export-quality cocaine (85% pure)
is documented to have been seized or destroyed in 2005; US
consumption of export quality cocaine is estimated to have been in
excess of 380 metric tons
opiates: worldwide illicit opium poppy cultivation continued to
increase in 2007, with a potential opium production of 8,400 metric
tons, reaching the highest levels recorded since estimates began in
mid-1980s; Afghanistan is world's primary opium producer, accounting
for 95% of the global supply; Southeast Asia - responsible for 9% of
global opium - saw marginal increases in production; Latin America
produced 1% of global opium, but most was refined into heroin
destined for the US market; if all potential opium was processed
into pure heroin, the potential global production would be 1,000
metric tons of heroin in 2007
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; major consumer of
cannabis
Zimbabwe
transit point for cannabis and South Asian heroin, mandrax,
and methamphetamines en route to South Africa