Regional demand for stimulants on the rise: UNODC
THE DEMAND for amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) in the Asia-Pacific region has been rising rapidly as economic integration among countries is offering new opportunities for transnational criminal groups to expand their networks, the UN said yesterday.
East and Southeast Asia as well as Oceania are the world’s largest ATS markets, dominated by methamphetamine in crystal or “ice” form and as tablets – yaba or yama – the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reported.
Moreover, easy access to legitimate industrial chemicals that can be used as precursors for methamphetamines and Ecstasy could further boost consumption, it said.
Meanwhile, the seizure of methamphetamine in crystal form quadrupled from about 11 tonnes in 2008 to 42 tonnes in 2013, while seizures of the drug in tablet form have risen at a more rapid rate, rising eight-fold from about 30 million tablets in 2008 to more than 250 million in 2013, the report said.
Meanwhile, the numbers of methamphetamine tablets seized in 2013 in China (115 million) and Thailand (113 million) were the highest ever reported from those countries.
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