ABU DHABI — The United Nations has found that traffickers are
using Gulf ports to ship drugs to Asia and the Middle East.
The UN office of Drugs and Crime said traffickers preferred ports of the
Gulf Cooperation Council for the shipment of drugs from Afghanistan. Traffickers are using both airports and sea ports in Bahrain,
Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, officials said.
At a two-day meeting in the Qatari capital of Doha, which ended on May
24, UN representatives said GCC states must improve security, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the
UN has offered to work with GCC authorities and exchange intelligence.
"The Gulf states, because of their state-of-the-art sea ports and
airports, are used as a staging area for drugs trafficking and as a base for
traffickers to organize their operations," Bernard Frahi, a director at the
UN Office for Drugs and Crime, said. "Drug trafficking as well as the trade
in chemical precursors needed for the processing of opium into heroin are
expanding through the Gulf states."
UN representatives said the traffickers ship drugs from Afghanistan
through Pakistan, Iran and Central Asia. They said the Iranian route
includes GCC sea ports and airports for transfer to Africa and Asia.
In all, Afghanistan produces 4,100 tons of opium every year, or the
equivalent of 400 tons of heroin. The UN said 60 percent of the opium
traverses Iran, 20 percent through Pakistan and the rest in Central Asia.
"We have alerted the Gulf authorities so that through better control
more seizures of drugs can be done at entry ports," Frahi told the Abu
Dhabi-based Gulf News.
The drug trafficking has resulted in widespread availability of heroin
in GCC states, the representatives said. They said this has resulted in
increased regional drug consumption of opium and hashish.
"Drug trafficking results in a spillover that leads to local
consumption," UNODC representative
Mohammad Al Mulla said. "This consumption is also linked to the presence of
foreign laborers bringing with them the habit."
The seminar in Doha was attended by officials from GCC interior
ministries. Speakers were said to have urged South Asian and GCC states to
increase cooperation.
"There are some loopholes and lack of cooperation between Gulf states
and other neighbors," Al Mullah said.
