ABU DHABI —
The United Nations has relayed a warning to the six Gulf states that
opium production from Afghanistan would increase by 59 percent in 2006.
The
Gulf comprises the main route of Afghan opium to the Middle East, Europe and Asia with the United States being a major final destination.
Richard Murphy, a spokesman for the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, said
Iran would absorb most of the drug flow. Murphy said the appearance of the
new Afghan opium crop would be felt in early 2007.
Murphy told the Manama-based Gulf Daily News that Bahrain and other GCC
states would represent a major target for drug traffickers. He said the
Vienna-based UN agency would help Gulf Arab authorities, Middle East Newsline reported.
"The Afghan opium crop is much higher this year, up 59 percent from last
year with around 6,100 tons expected to be produced, Murphy said. "This
accounts for 92 percent of the total world supply and that means there is
going to be a lot more heroin coming onto the market in the next six to 12
months."
"The Gulf is an economically very vibrant region and has a number of
very busy ports with vigorous trading links to the rest of the world,"
Murphy said. "Clearly that makes it an attractive region for drug
traffickers."
Officials said the main routes for opium and heroin stem from
Afghanistan to the Middle East and Europe, with much of the processing
conducted in Iran and Lebanon. Secondary routes begin in Southeast Asia and
South America — with much of the drugs bound for the United States.
So far, Qatar has pledged $10 million to establish a criminal
intelligence center to combat drug trafficking. The center, expected to open
in 2007, would facilitate the exchange of intelligence on drug shipments
through the Gulf.
"The center will make police intelligence and customs officers act in a
more coordinated way and the center will have experts from a number of
countries," Murphy said. "This will help in sharing information and help to
track the movements of drug traffickers and their consignments and hopefully
lead to arrests and seizures of drug shipments."