Drugs

Many Western travelers tend to view drugs as a furtive part of their youth or something that affects only inner cities, but the adventurous traveler quickly learns just how vital a role drugs play in the world's most dangerous places. In fact, in many places, danger is a prerequisite to ensure the smooth flow of illegal goods and profits the drug industry needs to escape interdiction. Whenever there is drug activity there is corruption, AIDS and organized crime. Here you'll enter a shadowy world where guests are unwelcome. Typically narco-regions are run by warlords, corrupt politicians, dirty cops or criminals, all of whom can be considered tourism-unfriendly. Mexico City's former police chief built a mansion styled after the Parthenon and stashed away between $1 to $3 billion of corrupt profits during his six year term. But this is only a small piece of the pie, especially when you consider the Cali cartel made $30 billion last year and the Gulf cartel profited $20 billion by government estimates.

With the increased presence of U.S. government agents and operatives the drug lords have become more careful and wary of unfamiliar faces-your life could be at risk if you are tagged as someone who should be removed. U.S. government sources spend millions unsuccessfully to try to solve the entire world's drug problems. But the problem also may be found within our own borders. The indisputable fact is that the Bolivian peasant who grows coca to feed his family, or Baluchi gunmen who are paid to protect a shipment are not the criminals because these folks are doing something accepted in their own world. We create the drug problem by demanding more and more hard drugs which keeps a hundred or so druglords around the world very wealthy.

DP spends much of its travel time in drug-infested regions hobnobbing with gunmen, warlords, smugglers, fighters and mafia hoods. In some of these regions there is no business other than drugs. We also notice that in the absence of an economy, bribes and guns are used to enslave peasants, couriers, politicians and entire nations to feed the drug demands of Europe, Russia, Australia and the Americas.

The Papaver somniferum, or Eurasian poppy, was introduced to Asia from the Mediterranean by Arab traders in the 12th century and was cultivated for its medicinal properties. This innocent little flower has now grown up to become the half-brother of war. India, Myanmar, China, Pakistan, Laos, Thailand, Mexico, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan are the troubled homes of this gentle, unassuming weed that blows in the wind. Wars have been fought over opium since the 1839-1842 Opium War between Britain and China. Today, the battles are taking place on the streets of St. Louis, Miami, Los Angeles and small-town America. Crime experts say that as turf battles among druglords decline in the cities, America's small towns are becoming the fastest growing markets. A recent survey found that 47 percent of small town police chiefs consider drugs a serious problem and two-thirds say drug problems in their area have increased over the last five years. Millions of people are currently enslaved by the byproducts of the opium poppy. And heroin's slaves today aren't just junkies in backalleys. The media recently has had a field day exposing heroin addict movie stars and fashion models. Since the drug can now be snorted like cocaine or smoked rather than injected into veins, it has begun increasing in popularity.

Seventy percent of all illicit drugs in the U.S. are derived from heroin, originating in the land of Chinese druglords-the Golden Triangle of Southeast Asia. The current purity of heroin found on the street in the United States has jumped from an average 7 percent in 1984 to 36 percent today, a testament not only to its grip on a nation, but to the seemingly endless world supply of the narcotic. Heroin shipped into the U.S. comes from at least 11 different countries. The DEA estimates it stops 30 to 40 percent of drugs illegally entering the country.

Poppies can be grown in cool plateaus above 500 feet. The plants grow rapidly and propagate easily. Planted at the end of the wet season (in Asia in September and October), the poppy heads are later scraped after the petals fall off. The scraping creates an oozing sap that is removed from the plant and packed tightly into banana leaves. The crude opium is then transported out of the hills via pony or armed convoys to middlemen. For those who grow opium, few escape its enticing lure. Hilltribe growers swiftly become addicts themselves. Up to 30 percent of Southeast Asia's Hmong tribe is addicted to opium. Most of the income of northern Laos is dope money. In fact, small nickel bags, or parakeets as they are called locally, can be used as a form of currency.

The poppy is back big time and is often used in conjunction with cocaine to ease the crash. Purer forms can be smoked instead of injected. There are more than half a million heroin addicts in the U.S.

The Golden Triangle

The Golden Triangle has an estimated total potential opium production exceeding 4000 metric tons. While poppy cultivation increased in Myanmar and Laos, it has declined in China and Thailand. Myanmar is the world's largest opium producer, with an estimated 2340 metric tons, which can produce an estimated 234 metric tons of pure heroin, enough to satisfy much of the world's craving for the drug. In 1995, Laos, with an estimated 180 metric tons of potential opium production, edged out Pakistan and became the world's third largest potential producer of illegal opium after Myanmar and Afghanistan.

According to U.S. Government estimates, in 1995, growers in Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand cultivated an estimated 175,470 hectares of opium poppy, potentially yielding 2545 metric tons of opium gum. The fact that Myanmar was responsible for 154,070 hectares, with Laos kicking in a measly 19,650 hectares and Thailand filling in the rest, explodes the Golden Triangle concept. Myanmar is a narco economy just like Colombia and Peru. In fact, estimated opium poppy cultivation in Thailand decreased by approximately 17 percent to 1750 hectares from 2110 hectares.

Laos is the third largest producer of opium, with much of it going to its 42,000 opium addicts who consume 60 metric tons each year. Most poppy cultivation is in the Houaphan and Palavek regions. The smack that doesn't enter the arms of the Lao is smuggled out north to China via Luang Namtha and Phong Saly or to Thailand via Oudomsay province.

China is the other major Asia transportation route for heroin. Heading north from the Golden Triangle, most drugs are shipped from Yunnan through Guangxi and Guangdong provinces into Hong Kong for overseas shipments. A smaller amount is smuggled directly into Russia, and some heroin enters Guangxi province from Vietnam.

China has a minor opium crop primarily in the NW province of Ningxia. There is a conservative government estimate of 380,000 drug addicts in China but the real total is much higher. A six month crackdown just in Guangdong province netted 7500 drug dealers and 250 kgs of heroin. Most addicts are in Yunnan province which also has a skyrocketing AIDS problem due to syringe-needled junkies. Drugs are bad for your health in China. Most drug traffickers are executed by a single pistol shot to the back of the head immediately after trial.

Opium production in China's Yunnan Province is on the decline with a 36 percent drop in production.

Taiwan has more than 60,000 heroin addicts and is a transshipment point for Chinese heroin.

Vietnam has 9000 villages that produce 2300 hectares of opium under cultivation. The country also has more than 200,000 addicts (30,000 in Ho Chi Minh City) three quarters of who smoke opium while the other inject it. There are also about 3000 HIV positive persons, 80 percent of which are drug addicts.

Hong Kong (now part of China) continues to be a major money laundering center, and to a lesser amount, a shipment center.

Indonesia is a minor heroin transit point, primarily for Australia, Europe and the U.S.

Cambodia is a major smuggling center from Myanmar usually via speedboat to Thailand. This new export crop has attracted the attention of the local police and military.

The poppy is regionally cultivated in Third World countries with little or no political, military or police interference. Mexico, Lebanon and Turkey have faded from the scene, replaced by Afghanistan and Myanmar, both of which had bumper crops and governments who see no problem including drug sales to their personal GNP. Vietnam is the up and comer with 3150 hectares of opium poppy under cultivation (which would yield 25 metric tons of opium gum).

The Golden Crescent

Most of Europe's heroin comes straight from Afghanistan via the Balkan routes. Opium and heroin production are up under the taliban, and the transit lines are prospering from affluence in Europe and warfare in Central Asia. The northern branch of the Balkan Route is a heroin highway, servicing markets in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and other Eastern European countries.

The traditional route for Central Asian heroin has been the Balkans from Turkey to Austria. Increased demand in Europe, and open borders have expanded the route northward into Romania, Hungary, and the Czech and Slovak Republics, and southward through Croatia, Slovenia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Greece and Albania. Slovakia is becoming a key conduit for smuggling Southwest Asian heroin to Western Europe.

Most of the drug trafficking through the Balkan route is under the protection of Kurdish groups like the PKK who have ready made distribution through immigrant networks in the major cities of Germany and the U.K.

Russia has become junkie central with high demand and short supply lines for not only heroin but also amphetamines. Russian authorities predict that drug use is now accelerating at a fifty percent increase per year and there are now over 2 million drug users in Russia. The Lezgi, Chechen and other Transcaucasia mafia groups control the drug trafficking and distribution in Transcaucasia, Central Asia and the Ukraine.

Tajikistan has become one of more lucrative areas for opium and hashish smuggling. A general lack of enforcement and a number of local warlords have made drug smuggling the only industry in Gorno Badakhstan. A kilo of opium can be bought locally between $100 and $120 and can be resold in Moscow 1800 miles away for between $5500-$6000. The presence of 25,000 underpaid Russian military with easy access to air transport to Moscow has made this the main drug highway between Afghanistan and Moscow. The 40,000 or so junkies in Tajikistan can barely get their hands on enough smack before it is whisked out of the country. Curiously, with all this temptation most drug seizures in Tajikistan are still made by Russian border guards who make about $36 a month. There is minor poppy cultivation near Dushanbe, the SE region of Khatlon, in the northern Leninabad region and increasingly in Gorno Badakhstan.

Ukraine has become a major conduit for drug smuggling from Central Asia and Turkey to Europe. It is also home to half a million addicts. The poppy growing regions of Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) now are involved heavily in heroin trafficking between Southwest Asia and China into Russia and Europe. Tajikistan is a major opium and hashish thoroughfare between Afghanistan to Russia, the CIS, and Europe.

Kazakhstan is vast area is not only a major transshipment region from Tajikistan and China but is home to a woefully understated 17,000 drug users, 6000 of whom are addicts. It is also a major cannabis growing center (see Cannabis).

Krygyzstan has over 50,000 addicts and is a transit route from Afghanistan via Tajikistan.

Turkmenistan has a well established use of opium in its traditional foods and festivals. It also has a well-worn smuggling trail through the Kushka and to Mary. The Karakum desert provides a direct route from the north of Afghanistan to the Caspian sea and Russia. Most poppy cultivation is along the Iranian border in the Akhal Velayat.

Uzbekistan is used by the Azeria and Georgian mafia as a Central Asian hub to Russia through its main city of Tashkent. There are about 200,000 addicts and minor poppy cultivation in Samarkand and Syrhandarya. It is also a minor transshipment point from Afghanistan to Kazakhstan.

Afghanistan had a 33 percent increase in poppy cultivation in 1995 and continues to expand under the taliban. The taliban is against the consumption of drugs, but not the growing or exporting of drugs. Afghanistan grows most of the poppies and supplies much of the raw paste that becomes Europe's heroin. Poppy cultivation in Pakistan is down. Most transport is via Baluchi trafficking organizations operating out of Quetta, Pakistan. These groups place orders with the Afghani processors and arrange for shipment of the drugs from Afghanistan through Pakistan and to Iranian or Turkish buyers who move it through Iran and into international drug channels. Most Afghan opium is destined for processing into heroin in Turkey to be sold in the main cities of Western Europe.

Turkey is the terminus and major refining center of the Golden Crescent. Three quarters of Europe's heroin supply comes through or from Turkey. That's about 6 metric tons a month. Turkey's raw product comes from Afghanistan and Pakistan through the northern part of Iran. Drug labs are found primarily in the Southeast and in the Mamara region south of Istanbul. Istanbul is one of the world's centers for drug buying and selling. The major player is the PKK who use a network of Kurds as retail outlets to sell heroin in Europe. Turkish heroin goes for $6500 per kilo wholesale and when it gets to Germany or The Netherlands it jumps $35,000. If it gets to North America it can sell for up to $75,000. That's what the dealer pays.

The Americas: Heroin's Brave New World

Poppies can be grown anywhere in the world so it's surprising that it has taken this long for traditional coca producers to try opium poppies.

Colombia's attempt at diversifying into opium poppy cultivation is not going well. Colombia's 6540 hectares, assuming three crops per year, make it the largest potential opium producer in the hemisphere. For now they only have 1.5 percent of the world's production. They are trying to use their cocaine distribution and sales networks to sell an ultrapure form of heroin. Many druglords, like the Orejula brothers, run their empires from jail where it's probably safer.

Venezuela, not to be outdone, is busy putting in poppies in the Serrania de Perija frontier region. Mexican drug mafias are strongarming Huallaga Valley campesinos to plant poppies. The DEA claimed that South American heroin had the highest purity (average 59.3 percent) of any samples analyzed under its Domestic Monitor Program.

Mexico remains the second largest Latin American grower of opium poppy with approximately 5800 hectares under cultivation.

Crack is number one with a bullet in the U.S. Smoke it and you may get a groovy high or you may turn into a ruthless brute. Crack is big dollars, big profits and big trouble. Law enforcement credits much of the body count in the inner cities to gangs fighting over turf to sell the evil stuff. You only have about five years to wring every nickel out of the 2.1 million coke and crackheads until they die. Crack is cocaine you can smoke, but it is typically cut with anything that grandma left in the cupboard. Crack and cocaine enter the U.S. by the ton. A kilo of cocaine will sell wholesale for between $10,500 and $40,000.

The coca bush takes two years to mature at which point the leaves are picked and ground up. A hectare of mature coca bushes can yield around 2.7 metric tons of dry leaf, which in turn yields about 7.44 kilos of cocaine. It takes about 363 kilos of dry leaves to yield one kilo of cocaine. The amount of pure cocaine in the goods depends on the alkaloid level of the leaf. In the Chapare region of Bolivia they have a 0.72 percent alkaloid content. Cocaine goes for about $100 a gram on the street in the U.S. Do the math and figure out how much coca eradication equals how much cocaine not smuggled into the States. Unfortunately despite the valiant efforts of every law enforcement agency in the world, cocaine availability increases every year and prices are dropping.

Most addicts kick the habit by dropping dead. Unlike heroin which will give you 10 years of hell, cocaine and crack are more addictive and more destructive. It makes perfect sense that cocaine would be in such heavy demand in civilized countries. There are about 2 million crack or cokeheads in the U.S., enough to keep the cocaine trade booming.

Peru is the world's largest producer of coca with 115,000 hectares under cultivation. Although the government likes to blame their problem on the insurgent groups, several senior Peruvian Army officers are under investigation and one General was convicted. Drugs have also been found on Peruvian Navy ships and Air Force planes. Even the top security man and President Fujimori's strongman, Vladimir Montesinos has been fingered in this business. Peru ships its cocaine base to Mexico for processing. Smaller amounts are shipped by land into Chile and Ecuador.

The major markets for South American cocaine producers are the U.S. and Western Europe. The U.S. seizes an average of 100 metric tons every year, but admits that it has little impact on drug prices or reduced drug sales.

Colombia's coca production is up 23 percent, forcing local syndicate to expand distribution into Poland and the Czech Republic. To keep up their number two position, they also import coca base from neighboring Peru and Bolivia. Most Colombian cocaine is shipped in huge multi-ton sea cargo or eight ton shipments on old 727s to deliver to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean where it is broken down into smaller shipments bound for the States or Europe. San Andres Island, an old stomping ground of DP is one of the major air transshipment points into Nicaragua and then to Mexico. About 62 percent of the cocaine and almost all the heroin nabbed in the U.S. comes from Colombia.

Bolivia is the number three producer of coca and cocaine and slipping in the ranking as Colombia takes over the Bolivian industry. Hectares of coca are grown in the Yungas, Apolo and Chapare regions. Processing centers are in Santa Cruz and Beni. Since coca is used as part of tea, for chewing and for traditional ceremonies, 12,000 hectares of cultivation is allowed legally. The best coca leaves come from Yungas, while almost all coca grown in the Chapare region is for illegal purposes.

Panama, even post-Manny, is still a major transportation center. And no, The Colon Free Zone is not a joke, but a major money laundering center.

Mexico has increased drug production so much that smugglers have switched from cargo planes to cargo ships to meet the demand. The cargo is picked up by high speed boats that meet them off the coast. Small planes are also used to drop drugs in country. The contrabandistas along the border are also eager to smuggle guns, dope or people if the price is right.

Nigeria is a major hub for smuggling by virtue of its corrupt customs and eagerness of mules who will carry cocaine either ingested internally in condoms or on their person. The Nigerians leave South America often via Rio then bring the cocaine to Nigeria for sales in South Africa.

The Caribbean island of Aruba, off the coast of Venezuela, is a major drug transshipment point. Shipments funnel in from Colombia, Venezuela and Suriname for transport to the U.S. and Europe. Also Vieques island (Puerto Rico) and U.S. Virgin Islands are popular delivery points from the islands of the Lesser Antilles. About 30 percent of the drugs that enter Britain come from the Caribbean. Drugs also flow from these islands into their home protectorates of France, and The Netherlands. Cocaine is shipped by sea from South America and then loaded onto aircraft and ships on the ABC Islands. Couriers are also used to transport drugs in 1-2 kilo amounts back to their home countries. They also launder drug proceeds in Aruba, CuraÁao, St. Maarten and Bonaire. Antigua and Barbuda are major storage and transshipment points for Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Jamaica. In general many of the island chains offer ideal smuggling and transfer points due to the large amount of shoreline, number of watercraft and lack of police in the area.

Suriname is the main gateway for cocaine into The Netherlands

The Dominican Republic is also a convenient stopping off point for Colombian drugs en route to America.

Brazil is a major air transit route for cocaine base from Peru to Colombia.

The weed is not really top priority with the DEA nor is it a major contributor to criminal activity. It is bulky, low margin and can be homegrown easily by cheapskate customers. In many countries, you will find marijuana plants growing wild in backyards, along roads and in fields. The benefits of the cannabis trade are the lack of expensive chemicals to create an end product and a laissez faire attitude towards personal consumption in many European and Asian countries.

Mexico weed production is down 35 percent to about 6900 hectares which can yield 3560 metric tons of end product. In Mexico coke is it. In 1995, there were 18,650 hectares of cannabis which produced over 5000 metric tons of weed.

Colombia is a bit player, but up and coming with about 5000 hectares under cultivation. Most weed is sent by sea to Mexico for land shipment into the U.S. Although gringos toke most of Colombia's sensimilla, they are increasing exports to Europe.

Jamaica may be the most visible consumer of ganja, which may contribute to its anemic 305 hectares or 206 metric tons of end product. Maybe there was too much sampling. The drug gangs have also started shipping cocaine.

The Bahamas is a major transshipment point for Jamaican weed and U.S.-bound coke from Colombia.

Guyana is a minor source for cannabis and is a transshipment point for cocaine from Colombia.

Cuba is a minor player with its North shore being a swapping point for Colombian drugs on their way to the States or Europe.

Trinidad and Tobago are major marijuana producing areas with an estimated 24 million marijuana plants found in the forested areas of north, east and south of Trinidad.

The Philippines is a big time producer and exporter of weed. Grown in Northern Luzon and Mindanao, its primary destination is Japan and Australia.

Central Asia is a major cannabis growing area with much of the product being turned into hashish.

Kazakhstan studies show that one out of every 14 people in the cities is a cannabis user. Every hippy's dream is the Chu valley where 138,000 acres of cannabis grow wild. There is an annual crop of 5000 metric tons per year. The primary regions for cannabis are the Taldy-Korgan, around the city of Almaty, Kzyl-orda and the south Zakakstan oblasts. There is also the ephreda plant which grows wild in the mountain ranges of the Zailyiski and Junggar and in the Talky-Korgan and Dzhambyl.

Afghanistan

A common harvest of lawlessness is drugs. When the Soviets pulled out of Afghanistan, they left little government and less of an economy. So the gaps were filled in by industrious Afghans who raised poppies and sold them to the equally industrious Pakistanis. The Pakistanis jumped in when Iran's fundamentalist government got tough on drugs and Afghan routes to the west were interrupted by war. Today, Pakistan exports between 65 and 80 tons of heroin every year. Not much when you compare it to the 2630 tons from the Golden Triangle, but enough to generate US$1.5 billion in revenue.

The major drug producing regions in Afghanistan are Helmand, Kandahor, Uruzgan and Nangarhar provinces. Less productive regions for poppies are the provinces of Badakhstan, Kunar, Farah and Nimroz. At first it was thought the anti-drug taliban would crack down (at least they told DP that they would shoot all drug smugglers) but it seemed that when the morality was balanced with the economics common sense prevailed and drugs are bigger than ever.

There are some fairly significant barriers for entrance into the drug business. First off you need to have access to very expensive, very controlled chemicals like ephedrine ($80,000 a ton), methaqualone, n-acetylanthranillic acid, acetic anhydride (for heroin). If you are in the coca to cocaine base business you need mountains of sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid, sodium hydrochloride, and lime. The main areas for chemicals are India and China. Secondly, you need to control and protect cultivation areas and processing areas. This means gunmen, bribes and the occasional brutal murder. Finally you need transportation corridors and customers. This means staying on top of brutal and slippery alliances with terrorists, politicians, warlords, the military and organized crime. It is estimated the heroin business provides half a billion dollars a year to the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK. Enough to pay for a television satellite to broadcast their very own MED/TV.

There are 38,740 hectares of poppy cultivation (yielding 1250 metric tons) in Afghanistan with about 85 percent coming from the provinces of Nangarhar and Helmand which is then refined to morphine or heroin base. Pakistanis then take delivery and refine the drug in Quetta and ship it by sea or land (across Iran) or northward through Central Asia by road.

Pakistan is a major refining and distribution area primarily in the Khyber region and Northwest Frontier Province (see Pakistan IADP) where 155 metric tons of opium was produced. There is also a significant addict population in Pakistan.

The northern provinces transship through Tajikistan and Central Asia.

Iran has a minor output of opium but is primarily a transshipment point for heroin from Afghanistan en route to Turkey in the north and from Baluchistan in the south.

The Haji Baig Organization

This is a Lahore, Pakistan-based group loosely modeled after the 1980s American S&L structure; in other words, most of the key players are currently in jail while making millions of dollars. This organization lacks the political halo and the tens of thousands of armed men the Myanmar groups possess, and they are paying the price.The leaders are all killing time in Pakistan on drug charges awaiting extradition to the States. Meanwhile, their organization relies on Haji Ayub Afridi to carry on business as usual. Afridi lives in Jalalabad, a half-hour outside Peshawar in a compound protected by antiaircraft guns and armed tribesmen. His responsibility is to keep the flow of heroin and hashish moving to local distribution and sales groups in New York, Newark, NJ, L.A. and San Francisco.

The Quetta Alliance

The DEA-named Quetta Alliance is a coalition of Afghan tribes (the Issa, Notezai and thc Rigi) based along the Pakistan-Afghani border. The tribes control the output and shipment of processed opium (mostly morphine) to Turkey for further processing into heroin. The PKK and other terrorist groups in Turkey and Iran take care of security, and the final product is trucked from Istanbul to Europe for the last leg of the journey into America. The leader of the Notezai, Sakhi Dost Jan Notezai, is serving his third term in the provincial assembly, while concurrently serving time in prison on drug charges.

Drugs are also sent from Quetta to the Makran coast, where they are shipped via freighter to Marseilles and New York.

The PKK

Although they are known as a Kurdish liberation group, these folks have enough dough to run a TV station in London, 30 radio stations and a host of newspapers and rent time on two satellites (for a reputed 2 billion English pounds). You don't get this kind of money selling "Free the Kurds" T-shirts. Dope is protected through east Turkey and into Cyprus and then shipped to sales networks in Europe and the U.S. These guys should sell stock!

The taliban

Although it cannot be said that the taliban are smuggling drugs, it can be said that regional governors who are set up by the taliban do allow the cultivation, sale, basic refining and transportation of drugs. Although initially they sent in armed groups to stop drug smuggling, it seems that the taliban forces routinely deduct their passage fee from drug caravans and the local governors profit from this activity as well. For now the taliban get either caustic or vague when you accuse them of condoning drugs but cultivation increases, chemicals continue to be smuggled in from Central Asia and shipments to Europe have increased.

Europe

Europe is a major consumer of illicit drugs. Amsterdam, Marseille and Baltic ports provide easy access for Asian and Central Asian purveyors.

Poland produces 20 percent of the amphetamines sold in Europe and is a major base for Chinese, Colombian and other drug groups looking for a safe central place to process drugs. There are about 200,000 drug users, and half of them are addicts.

England has an estimated 100,000 heroin addicts and is a major consumer of soft and hard drugs. Most of the heroin comes from Afghanistan via Pakistani organizations. Marijuana comes from Morocco. Cocaine comes directly from South America via Amsterdam.

Italy is home to three major criminal organizations: The Calabrian `Ndrangheta, the Neapolitan Camorra and the Sicilian Mafia. All work directly with South American cartels to transport and sell cocaine in Europe. Most cocaine arrives by sea into mafia-controlled ports. There are around 150,000 addicts in Italy and 200,000 cocaine users.

Germany is the one place where cocaine costs more than the U.S. and use is up. Its ports of Hamburg, Bremen and Rostock are entry points for drugs and Frankfurt is the main air terminal used by Europe bound "mules" from Asia, Africa and Central Asia

Greece has 80,000 heroin users and is a major transshipment point into Europe from Turkey, by road, sea and air.

Bulgaria's lax airport security allows cocaine smugglers access to Europe. It also a main route into Europe from Turkey for West Asian drugs.

Cyprus is an important meeting ground and money laundering center for the Russian Mafyia. There are over 20,000 offshore companies, one tenth are Russian. Its central, neutral location and business infrastructure make it the ideal meeting place for drug deals, payoffs and discussions.

The Balkans

The well-maintained roads and compliant customs officials of the former Yugoslavia were the home leg of the long road from the poppy fields of Asia. The war messed up this convenient leg and now most heroin is smuggled through Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria. About 70 percent of the heroin is smuggled under the direction of the Albanian mafia to customers in Germany and Switzerland. They are bosom buddies with the Italian mafia. The Albanian mafia is comprised primarily of the Kosovar clan. Heroin is also processed in Albania by the mafia to increase profits.

Albania is a mess with the mafia being a stronger force than the government itself. Criminals control most major ports and entry areas making it a free trade zone for drugs. Cannabis and poppies are also grown domestically. Albanians from the Kosova region are the main smugglers who deliver their wares to retailers in Italy, Turkey and along the Mediterranean.

Trans-Caucasus

The rough and ready base of Europe is a natural conduit for anything coming from the foggy mountains of Chechnya, Georgia and other small states.

Chechnya paid for its revolution primarily with drug funds. The Russian military shipped heroin and hash using the Baku-Grozny-Rostov line. The Chechens raided over 559 trains in 1993 looting 4000 cars and stealing 11.5 billion rubles worth of legal cargo. It is not known how much drugs were taken. There is a nasty rumor that when Dudayev unsuccessfully demanded a higher cut of drug moneys from Defense Minister, Pavel Grachev he began to execute train conductors and confiscate all the drugs. Prompting Grachev to invade Chechnya.

Armenia is one stop for hashish and opium from Afghanistan on its way to Europe. There are also around 10,000 drug addicts.

Azerbaijan is another rest stop for smugglers from Central Asia, Iran and Afghanistan on their way to Russia or Europe. The drug trade is well entrenched with the main one being the route from Iran up to Russia and the Baltic states. There is a little side action smuggling drugs into Georgia.

Colombia

Colombia is the world's leading producer and distributor of cocaine, according to the DEA. It is the world's second largest producer of coca. They also are a major supplier of heroin and marijuana to the Mexican mafia. In the early '70s Colombia started out primarily as a grower of pot, with cocaine being a small part of the then $500 million a year export. Pot was mostly cultivated along the Atlantic coast. Today, it is estimated that Colombia's drug industry pockets about 3 billion a year in profits from the drug trade. They have a lock on 75 percent of the world's cocaine, and about 80 percent of the toot goes to Uncle Sam. To get an idea of what a narco government is, you have to understand that the entire gross domestic product of Colombia is only $5 billion.

Most coca is grown on 8-20 acre farms. The Colombian farmers get in 3-4 harvests a year. Some farmers are taking the next step and creating coca paste which sells for about $1100 per kilo. Most of the 135,000 acres of coca farms in Colombia are in the far south. It is estimated that there are 35,000 farmers in the business of growing coca and poppies. Only about 7000 families have switched to legal crops in the last two years.

Colombia has 50,900 hectares of coca, 2180 of opium poppy and 5000 hectares of marijuana under cultivation. Cocaine base is also flown into Colombia for processing via aircraft from Bolivia and Peru. Colombia's 80 metric tons of cocaine and 6.5 tons of heroin is then flown or shipped out to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. Ecuador, Venezuela, Paraguay and Haiti are also transshipment points and money laundering centers.

Thailand

Thailand's position in the Golden Triangle is more geographic than economic. It is a net importer of hard drugs and is a major transit route to Western countries. About 50 percent of the opium that enters Thailand from Myanmar heads for the U.S. The Thai opium crop is 25 metric tons and is under constant threat by government eradication programs and tough border controls with its northern bad boy neighbor Myanmar. Still the mule trains get through the rough terrain and insurgents keep the Thai soldiers from truly policing or sealing off the area.

Myanmar

Just under 70 percent of the world's heroin and 60 percent of heroin seized by U.S. law enforcement came from the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is not really a geographic triangle but a loosely U.S. defined area that covers eastern Myanmar, northern Laos and scattered parts of northern Thailand. The common elements are remoteness and inaccessibility, lack of law enforcement and the right altitude and climate to permit the cultivation of poppies. It may be more accurate to describe the Golden Triangle as just Myanmar.

Visitors to this area will find the locals decidedly reserved and openly belligerent if pressed for details on their trade.The U.S. State Department estimates that Myanmar exports about 2300 tons of raw opium a year, primarily from the Kachin and north Shan states. Laos moves about 300 tons and Thailand about 30 tons. Currently there is no anti-drug program and even the most visible drug smuggler in the world, Khun Sa, has retired in luxury to Yangon. In fact the term warlord or drug czar has been replaced by the SLORC with a new title: Leader of National Races and include: U Sai Lin aka; Lin Ming-shing of the Eastern Shan State Army (ESSA); Yang Mao-liang, Peng Chia-sheng, and Liu Go-shi of the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA-Kokang Chinese); Pao Yu-chiang, Li Tzu-ju, and Wei Hsueh-kang of the United Wa State Army (UWSA); and U Mahtu Naw of the Kachin Defense Army (KDA). All have been fingered by the U.S. government as the men who put the monkeys on the junkies.

For now the SLORCies are proud of the capture of a ridiculous 100 kgs of heroin as proof that they are "just saying no" to drugs in Myanmar.

The United Wa Army

Back in 1989, the SLORC Generals cracked down on Khun Sa. They overran his base in Ho Mong and subjected him to a list of horrors they felt Myanmar's smack daddy deserved: A mock trial, house arrest, no extradition, a job running the bus system, a nice house to stay arrested in, great medical care, around the clock bodyguards and only one round of golf on the Yangon links each week. Despite this cruel and unusual punishment and SLORC's clear message to all aspiring druglords, the heroin trade still continues in the north.

Today Khun Sa's Doi Land and Huay Makekahm heroin factories are humming along (they "crank" out 140 kg's of smack every month) under new ownership, the opium crop is up 10 percent and life is good for the United Wa Army.

The Wa Army is led by two men, former Commie Chao Nyi-Lai and Wei Hsueh-Kang, who operate out of the town of Pan Hsang in the easternmost corner of Myanmar. The Wei Siao brothers; Gang and Long are supposed to be the majordomos of drug dealing (Gang is wanted in the U.S. for drug trafficking) after Tei Kung MIng was offed in China. In any case the Wa boys and the United Wa State Army (an army of between 15,000 to 35,000 men) are in charge. They were trained well since they once provided raw opium to Khun Sa. The two leaders have political ambitions and claim that they want to shift the Wa people into legitimate crops once they have representation within the country of Myanmar. (Probably as soon as Joe Namath plays for the Jets again.) Opium production was up 10 percent in 1996 and instead of one big centralized high visibility operation (The big K's downfall) the opium business under the Wa is broken into smaller more numerous processors.

A third group led by Ai Hsiao-shih and Wei Hseuh-kang specializes in the transportation of raw and processed heroin into China and Thailand.

The Wa and the Shan-or more accurately the former Khun-Sa factions and Nyi-Lai/Hsueh-kang-account for 75 percent of the opium leaving thc Golden Triangle. Most of Myanmar's opium is transported in pony caravans along simple trails into China's Yunnan province and eventually to the drug syndicates in Hong Kong, or it moves south through Chiang Mai in northern Thailand down to Bangkok. Once the pony caravans reach minor towns, the heroin is then trucked to major cities, from where it is shipped or flown to the United States or Mexico.

A third route is from Moulmein in southern Burma into Bangkok and, surprisingly, into Malaysia and Singapore. Malaysia and Singapore widely publicize their imposition of a mandatory death penalty for drug smuggling, while also serving as major centers for the export of drugs.

For now the Wa are big wheels in the opium trade. There are plans afoot to turn Khun Sa's big white house into a museum.

Bangladesh, with its harbors and airports, is a growing transshipment point. For now, they are trying to crack down on the use of phensidyl, a codeine based cough syrup in vogue with Bangladeshis.

India is a legal producer of opium (in the states of Madhya, Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh) for medical purposes and is strategically situated between the Golden Crescent to the West and the Golden Triangle to the East. It also supplies processing chemicals to all major drug processing groups. The also produce methaqualone for sale in southern and eastern Africa.

The Hill Tribes

The real dirty work is taken care of by the region's poor but industrious hill tribes. Poppies in the Golden Triangle are grown and harvested by the Lahu, Lisu, Nfien and Hmong tribes, and cultivated among less odious but less profitable crops like maize. Since smart farmers maximize the use of their land and labor, it's not surprising that the annual opium production has tripled in Myanmar in the last 10 years. Depending on which druglord's auspices the farmer falls under, the raw product is sent to processing labs either along the Chinese border (Wa) or along the Thai border (Shan).

The Mong Tai Army

As broken as the surrounding topography, the Mong Tai (Shan State) Army, once led by the now retired Chang Chi Fu aka Khun Sa (Prince of Prosperity) disintegrated into factions in mid-1995 as the drug warlord cut a deal with Myanmar's ruling SLORC. Khun Sa, 63, now lives in Yangon in comfortable retirement. The USDEA were doing backflips when the K-Mart of heroin shut down. In August of 1996 street prices for heroin shot up 10 times their normal level as supplies disappeared down junkies' veins.For one brief shining moment it looked like the generals had been visited by the Do-Good fairy. The former headquarters at Ho Mong nine miles from the Thai border became a shell of its former glory with the population dwindling to less than 4000 compared to 18,000 in its heyday. But within the Wa, the new "Wa"-Mart of heroin filled Khun Sa's shoes.

Mexico

Mexico continues to be the financial and transshipment choice of South American drug cartels due to its lax banking laws, corrupt officials and its "don't ask, don't tell" policy of the military and government. The drug business in Mexico is sliced into three cartels; the Tijuana, Juarez and the Gulf. The Tijuana cartel under the Feliz brothers smuggles primarily heroin and majijuana, The Gulf cartel is the coca express and Amada Carrillo Fuentes' group (before he liposuctioned himself to death) used to cover trans border shipments from El Paso to Brownsville. In many cases, the cartels have cut out the beleaguered Colombian middle men and go right to the source for the coca paste.

Cocaine is smuggled in from South America in large multi-engine cargo jets and large cargo ships. Corrupt customs officials drive new Chevy Suburbans and the ruling class in Acapulco and Tijuana could outbid Bill Gates at any poker game. The downside is that Mexico's border population is coming down with a jones for their product and the U.S. government is losing patience with our biggest narco neighbor.

Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras are major land, air and sea transshipment routes for Colombian drugs entering Mexico. Mexico snaps up about 50-70 percent of all cocaine from South America. Mexico's corrupt government and long border with the U.S. make it an ideal entry point for drugs and a major money laundering center.

Mexico produces about 80 percent of the marijuana, 20-30 percent of the heroin and a growing amount of methamphetamines.

Panama

The Darien region of Panama is a hot spot for coca cultivation for the Colombian drug czars. Local Indians are goaded into cultivating crops under the watchful protection of Colombian guerillas. Recently, officials destroyed more than five tons of cocaine, broke up six coca paste labs and burned down 200 acres of a coca plantation. Still, Panama retains its reputation as an ideal shipment point for drugs and is a major center for laundering drug money.

Peru

Coca is Peru's second largest crop (after maize) with 930 square miles under cultivation. The major areas are the Huallaya Valley and the Apurimac-Enc Valley east of Lima. The 115,300 hectares of coca leaf (60 percent of the world's total coca crop) under cultivation is worth 40-50¢ a kilo (down from $3 in 1994). The drugs are grown by peasants who sell to shippers and processors under the control of the Shining Path and oddly enough the Peruvian military.

Russia

Russia's geographical position makes it a major drug producing, shipping and consumption center. Its neighbors make good use of the corrupt and inefficient police and border guards. The Russians quickly motorized the business and Russian Generals made millions sending back drugs to Russia in lead lined coffins. The trade in Tajikistan sends Tajik agents bearing Russian military supplies; blankets, food, guns, shoes etc. into Afghanistan. An Afghan dealer swaps the material for drugs and then the Russian soldiers make a one million dollar ruble payment to the border guards. The soldiers then ship the drugs directly into Russia's major cities by military transport (air, rail or road) which is not subject to inspection. The favored route is from Tajikistan Krasnovodsk, Baku, Grozny to Rostov and then on to Europe through Estonia. Defense Minister Pachel Grachev is nicknamed Pasha Mercedes for his high lifestyle and his reputed income from drugs.

Drugs from the Golden Crescent (Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran) are transported to major centers like Tashkent in Uzbekistan, or through the states of Chechnya, Tajikistan, Georgia and Azerbaijan. There are also major growing areas in southern Russia and the western Ukraine, as well as the states of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Krygyzstan. The presence of foreign troops during the Balkan War has disrupted the once traditional smuggling routes into Europe, which are being replaced by Afghanistan to Tajikistan to St. Petersburg to Cyprus, and then out through ports on the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean.

Russian officials estimate there are about 5.7 million drug users in Russia, with hashish being the drug of choice. A U.N. report says there may be 100,000 opium poppy fields and more than 2.5 million acres of marijuana under cultivation within the country. Drug-related crime is up 15 percent and 23 tons of drugs were seized in raids last year. About 80 percent of drug dealers arrested in Moscow are Azerbaijanis; the rest are Chechens. Moscow banks are becoming popular with out of town drug dealers like the Sicilian mafia and the Colombian cartels to launder money. The total drug business adds up to an unimpressive US$25 million (compared to our US$500 billion narcotics industry). A kilo of hash in Russia goes for as little as US$15, compared to US$200 in Europe. Accordingly the profit savvy and brutal Russian gangs are also expanding into Europe and the United States.

Those drugs that don't end up in Moscow or St. Petersburg go through to the Baltics where eager Scandinavian and Lowlands customers await.

Africa

Africa is not a major consumer of drugs, but it is an important transshipment point. South Africa is a growing consumer of drugs.

Egypt has large opium and marijuana plantations in the remote valleys of the Sinai Peninsula. The government launched a military offensive to eliminate them in March of 1996. The flow of cash from the drug trade is supposed to have made the drug cartels' assets an estimated $15 to $60 billion. It is also a transshipment point for Asian heroin on its way to Europe and the U.S. Its control of the Suez Canal allow large cargo shipments from the Indian Ocean into the Mediterranean.

Morocco is a supplier to Europe with its 74,000 hectares of marijuana under cultivation.

Nigeria grows cannabis but is known primarily for its courier business. Nigerians supplies South American cocaine and Asian heroin to the U.S and Europe. Interpol considers Nigeria the third largest heroin smuggling area in the world. Nigerians also recruit non-Nigerians for the risky business as well. It costs about $5000 to get five keys of heroin past Nigerian customers inspectors.

South Africa is also a transshipment point for cocaine and heroin and is one of the largest producers of weed primarily for its own consumption.

East Africa ports and airports are a transit point for Pakistani couriers as well as sea and air shipments. Often Nigerian couriers will fly into Nairobi to pick up shipments then fly into Europe or the U.S. Kenya deals primarily in hashish from Pakistan and heroin from Asia. It is also the major producer of khat a mild narcotic favored by Yemenis and Somalis.

Yemen is a transit country for hard drugs and consumers of them.

Zambia is a major transit point for methaqualone destined for South Africa.

Zimbabwe grows and exports marijuana to Europe and transships cocaine from South America and methaqualone from India to South Africa.

Opium

Opium has been used to kill pain, cure diarrhea and even as a social drug since 300 BC. Today, the legal use of opium is mainly to create morphine and codeine for medicinal purposes. Worldwide, there were an estimated 4000 metric tons of the stuff in 1995, double the amount produced in 1986.

Heroin

Heroin (from the Greek root, meaning "Hero") is the most refined byproduct of the opium poppy and causes a sense of power, creates a feeling of euphoria, relieves pain and induces sleep. Heroin has only been around since 1874 and was originally used for medicinal purposes without knowledge of its addictive properties. Today, 65 percent of the world's heroin supply comes from Myanmar, with Laos second. Northern Thailand barely hits the radar screen as a poppy grower. The U.S. government has vacillated between encouraging the production of heroin (as it did in its support of Laotian rebels during the Vietnam War) and condemning it (through its covert military ops in Thailand aimed at stemming the heroin tide washing up on the shores of New York City).

Even in its heavily cut street form (nickel bags diluted with sugar, starch, powdered milk or quinine to less than 10 percent purity), it is highly addictive, and its victims require larger and larger doses and more direct methods of ingestion to deliver a high. In New York City, the street price for a gram of 90 percent pure heroin is about $100, and a nickel bag goes for about $10; its dearth of purity means junkies can snort it instead of having to inject it. Some estimates tag the heroin trade as a US$4 to 10 billion a year business. There are about 600,000 users; half of them are concentrated in New York City. Heroin is becoming more popular; there was a 50 percent increase in heroin-induced overdoses as tracked by ER rooms in a half-year period in the U.S.

Methamphetamine

Meth, crank, or crystal was invented by the Japanese in 1893. The drug also contains ephedrine, found in over-the-counter cold prescriptions. Today it is a home-made drug popular with bikers, truckers and kids. Japan has 600,000 meth heads or tweakers. The Philippines is a transit point for crystal meth from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan on its way to local tweakers and into the U.S. via Guam and Hawaii. Ice, as it is commonly called, is cyrstallized, orderless and smokable. It first appeared in Hawaii in 1989 and came from South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines. The symptoms are fast and intense euphoria with alertnesss for 8-24 hours. Coming down also includes paranoia, depression, convulsions, hallucinations, aggressive behavior and fatal kidney failure. It is not uncommon to meet serious tweakers in a zombie, sleepless state.

Primarily a cheap, working class drug, meth can be cooked up at home and can turn a twenty fold profit... if you don't blow yourself up in the process of cooking it.

Morphine

Morphine is bitter to the taste, darkens with age and is derived from opium (at a strength of between 4 and 21 percent). Most of its addicts are former soldiers who were treated with morphine as a pain killer after being wounded in combat.

Codeine

Codeine (0.7 to 2.5 percent concentration of opium) is an alkaloid byproduct of the poppy and is found in a variety of patent medicines around thc world. In the U.S., codeine is only available in prescribed medications. However, these same medicines (i.e., Tylenol with Codeine) can be had over the counter in many countries, particularly in Central and South America and Southeast Asia.

Cocaine

Cocaine is a bitter crystalline alkaloid obtained from coca leaves. It creates a euphoric effect in users as well as a compulsive psychological need. It has limited medical applications as a local anesthetic agent. It is readily absorbed by the mucous membranes lining the nose and throat. Crack is a derivative of cocaine.

Marijuana

Mary Jane, grass, weed, or pot is a drug derived from cannabis sativa, a tall, leafy plant that is easily cultivated. The chemical that causes the high in pot is THC, or delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol. More than 400 other chemicals are found in the cannabis plant. Marijuana is usually smoked in loosely rolled cigarettes and is considered a social drug consumed at parties or at home. There are many varieties, with the effects dependent on the amount of THC in the plant. Due to better strains of the plant being cultivated, the marijuana sold today is estimated to be 10 times stronger than the weed sold in the 1970s.

The effect of marijuana varies with the user, but typically results in a faster heart rate, bloodshot eyes and dry throat and mouth. Marijuana can cause acute panic, memory loss and a lack of motivation. Proponents of its use praise its medicinal effects, enhancement of mental powers and increased sensitivity, especially during sex. Others experience drowsiness, giddiness and stupor.

Hashish

Hash is derived from the resin of hemp plants. It is stronger than marijuana and can contain up to 50 percent pure THC. It is usually smoked in a pipe or smoked inserted into regular cigarettes. THC is a chemical that usually contains PCP.

PCP

PCP, phencyclidine, also called angel dust, was originally developed as an anesthetic in the 1950s. Today, it is illegal but it is easily manufactured. PCP acts as a stimulant and can stretch time, numb pain centers, and slow body movements. Some users have a sense of power and strength. Overdoses can create violent behavior, which may lead to rash acts when the victim feels invincible (jumping from high places, drownings, car accidents). Heavy users can develop symptoms of paranoia, fearfulness and anxiety.

LSD

LSD is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is a common fungus typically in grains or bread. LSD was discovered in 1938 and is odorless, tasteless and colorless. It is often in liquid or tab form. Hallucinogenics create a rush of unusual emotions, visions, experiences and sensations. They also increase heart rate, dilate pupils, and increase body temperature and blood pressure. Use of hallucinogens may unmask or exacerbate emotional problems. In some cases, LSD is cut with other drugs to change the high.

Mescaline

Mescaline comes from the peyote cactus, and its effects are similar to those of LSD, though less extreme. It is usually smoked or swallowed in pill form.

Psilocybin/Mushrooms

Psilocybin is a hallucinogen found in mushrooms. It is taken in its raw form (mushrooms) or in a powdered tablet.