Roundup: Synthetic drugs market expanding in East-SE Asia, Oceania: UN

The demand for synthetic drugs in East and Southeast Asia and Oceania continues to rise, while rapid economic integration is creating new opportunities for transnational criminal groups to expand the illicit drug trade, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said in a report released here on Tuesday.

The report analyzed recent trends and developments of the synthetic drugs market in the region, comprising both amphetamine- type stimulants (ATS) and new psychoactive substances (NPS), which are designed to mimic the effects of substances under international control.

East and Southeast Asia and Oceania is one of the world's largest synthetic drug markets, and is dominated by methamphetamine in crystalline or ice and tablet forms, according to the UNODC.

The illegal synthetic drug trade in the region is also expanding and diversifying with increasing availability of NPS, the UNODC said.

Methamphetamine seizures in East and Southeast Asia and Oceania almost quadrupled from about 11 tons in 2008 to almost 42 tons in 2013, said the report, which was produced by the UNODC Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Program.

Over this period, crystalline methamphetamine seizures in the region almost doubled to about 14 tons in 2013, while methamphetamine tablet seizures rose at a more rapid rate resulting in an eight-fold increase, from about 30 million tablets seized in 2008 to more than 250 million tablets seized in 2013, the report showed.

"This significant increase might be partly the result of effective law enforcement measures, but also points to expanding production and trafficking to and through the region," Tun Nay Soe, Program Coordinator for the Global SMART Program, said at the report launch.

"Unfortunately, the most recent data we have received for the past year indicates that supply and demand have continued to rise for both types of methamphetamine," he stressed.

In 2013, illicit synthetic drug production, predominantly methamphetamine, was detected in most countries in East and Southeast Asia and Oceania, according to the UNODC.

While regional expansion in methamphetamine production meets most of the supply needs of the market, international drug trafficking networks from Western Asia, South Asia, North America and Western Africa, are also targeting the region, the report revealed.

"Increased cross-border trade, regional integration and reduced border restrictions in Southeast Asia have also created opportunity for increasing cross-border trafficking of drugs and the precursors needed to make them", said Jeremy Douglas, Regional Representative of UNODC in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.

"It is undeniable that many positive economic opportunities and benefits are being seen, but the activity of transnational criminal groups involved in the region's synthetic drug trade is also increasing, posing a challenge for governments and regional organizations like ASEAN to develop an effective coherent response, " he stated.

The report also noted a growing presence of ecstasy in East and South-East Asia and Oceania, with the region"possibly becoming an emerging driver of the global market for ecstasy."

Until recently, the NPS market in the region has been dominated by the presence of ketamine, kratom and, more recently, khat, according to the report.

However, the number of NPS reported in East and South-East Asia and Oceania had increased significantly, from 34 substances in 2009 to 137 as of November 2014, it showed.

"Given that the risk profile of NPS are not yet fully understood, their proliferation poses unforeseen health and public safety risks in the region," said Justice Tettey, chief of the UNODC Laboratory and Scientific Section.

"In the absence of control measures and appropriate risk communication strategies for these substances in many countries, the challenges for law enforcement and public health are significant," he noted. Endi