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MONITORING THE SUPPLY OF HEROIN TO EUROPE TO OF HEROIN SUPPLY THE MONITORING TECHNICAL DATA SHEETS 1831-2314 ISSN Monitor ing the suppl y of hero in to E emcdda.europa.eu uro pe Contents Foreword 3 Introduction 4 Afghanistan: main producer of illicit poppy 6 Heroin entering Europe: the different routes 8 The Balkan route 9 The ‘northern route’ 11 European routes 12 Alternative routes and new markets 13 Traffic of acetic anhydride 14 European and international initiatives 15 Conclusion 17 References 18 Acknowledgements 20 Monitor ing the suppl y of hero in 3 to E emcdda.europa.eu uro pe Foreword Throughout the 1990s, Europe experienced a heroin use epidemic that was accompanied by increasing levels of injecting drug use, together with growing concerns about drug-related HIV and HCV infection. Today, opioid users occupy a major share of the drug problem, although a more stable situation now exists with respect to trends in use of the drug. Nonetheless, opiate problems still predominate in the European drug treatment system, and the cost of treating this population will remain a major burden on health budgets for many years to come. There are some encouraging signs about opioid use in western and central Europe, although the situation in eastern European countries is less clear, with problems still growing in some areas. Overall, in Europe, however, the population of opioid users appears to be ageing, new recruitment is down, and injecting may be becoming a less acceptable mode of administration. However, any positive statement in this area must be made with caution. The prospect of a future decline in heroin problems in Europe is now being called into question by a number of factors. Historical experience has taught us that drug problems often come in ‘epidemic waves’, with new generations being exposed to risk, especially when they have no direct experience of the serious health and social problems that the widespread use of a drug, such as heroin, can cause. Furthermore, Afghanistan’s political and social instability, matched with its precarious security situation, has been accompanied by an increase in the estimates of opium production. This is likely to impact on the availability of heroin in Europe. Some, but not all, of the heroin produced from the opium grown in Afghanistan will be destined for the European market. So an increase in future problems caused by heroin use cannot be ruled out. Moreover, changes in the availability of heroin could potentially have a negative impact on the current population of heroin consumers. There is also a risk that increased availability may be reflected in new recruitment to the drug, or adverse problems due to the availability of high purity heroin at street-level. The EMCDDA is committed to monitoring drug problems in Europe, and is particularly vigilant with respect to opioid use, which is highly damaging in terms of its public health and social impact. This technical datasheet provides an overview of what is known about the way heroin is trafficked into the European Union. It explores the implications of heroin trafficking on drug consumption levels, with a view to informing policymakers about the actors involved, the routes taken, and the scale of the problem in Europe. Monitor ing the suppl y of hero in 4 to E emcdda.europa.eu uro pe Introduction The sustainability of a general stable or improving situation seen in heroin use in Europe has been called into question by a series of record opium harvests in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has been Europe’s main heroin supplier for more than 10 years. Heroin enters Europe primarily by two major land routes: the long-standing ‘Balkan route’ through Turkey; and, since the mid-1990s, the ‘northern route’, which leaves northern Afghanistan through Central Asia and on to Russia (and is sometimes colloquially referred to as the ‘silk route’). Estimates suggest that prevalence of opioids (1) use is relatively stable in Europe, although some countries report pockets of new users. Conversely, other indicators suggest an increase in heroin availability in Europe. The data available show an increase in seizures of heroin since 2003, accompanied by a decrease in heroin retail prices. In addition, the downward European trend in the number of opioid-related deaths appeared to have levelled out in 2003. Since then, several countries have reported increases (EMCDDA, 2007 and 2008a). There are a number of possible explanations for these changes. The increase in heroin seizures could be explained by enhanced law enforcement activity, or more targeted action against heroin distribution. The upward trends in opioid-related deaths in some parts of Europe may be attributed to a number of factors: for example, to increased use of synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl; to the concomitant use of opioids and other psychoactive substances (EMCDDA, 2008a); or to increasing vulnerability in an ageing population showing comorbid health problems. Alternatively, a factor could be an increase in the availability of heroin in Europe as a result of increasing opium Heroin in Europe at a glance • Problem opioids use: average prevalence between 4 and 5 cases per 1,000 adult population (aged 15–64) • Estimated number of problem opioids users: 1.5 million (1.3–1.7 million) • Around 7,000 acute drug deaths, with opioids being found in around 70 % of them (2005) • Principal drug in about 50 % of all drug treatment requests • More than 570,000 opioid users received substitution treatment (2005) • A minimum of 49,000 seizures resulting in the interception of an estimated 19.4 tonnes of heroin • Countries reporting the largest number of seizures (descending order): UK (2005), Spain, Germany, Greece, France • Countries reporting the largest quantities of heroin seized (descending order): Turkey, UK (2005), Italy, France, the Netherlands • Typical price of brown heroin ranges from EUR 14.5 to EUR 110 per gram (prices declined over the last 5 years); although most countries report EUR 30–45 per gram. • Typical purity of brown heroin ranges from 15 % to 25 % Source: EMCDDA, 2008a and 2008b (2006 data, unless indicated otherwise) (1) EMCDDA data uses the wider term ‘opioid’ to describe opiate products isolated or chemically derived from opium. In this datasheet, the term ‘opioids’ is used to refer to opium and to opium-derived and semisynthetic products (including for instance, heroin, morphine, morphine-base, methadone and fentanyl). Monitor ing the suppl y of hero in 5 to E emcdda.europa.eu uro pe production in its principal heroin supplier — Afghanistan — and more intense trafficking activities along the main smuggling routes. This technical datasheet provides a condensed review of the key issues relevant to understanding how heroin manufactured from Afghan opium reaches European consumers. This review is based on the latest data and analysis available from specialised European and international organisations (2). It begins by describing the state of poppy growing and heroin processing in Afghanistan. It then traces the two main routes used to smuggle heroin — and other opium-based products such as morphine before transformation into heroin — before it reaches European consumers. There follows a brief discussion of alternative trafficking routes and the situation of trafficking within Europe. The datasheet closes with a review of the situation concerning acetic anhydride — an indispensable chemical to the manufacturing of heroin — and of selected European and international initiatives that have attempted to address the problem of the Afghan opium boom and its consequences. To set the context, background information has been provided on the chemistry and legal status of heroin, on the impact of alternative development in Afghanistan, and on the European market as perceived through the quantitative data collected by the EMCDDA. Heroin Heroin is a crude preparation of diamorphine. It is a semisynthetic product obtained by acetylation of morphine, which occurs as a natural product in opium: the dried latex of certain poppy species (e.g. Papaver somniferum L.). Heroin is an opioid. Opioids are a group of alkaloids isolated or chemically derived from opium, often synonymous with opiates, but sometimes restricted to semisynthetic products (e.g. diamorphine) or chemically-related synthetic substances (e.g. methadone). In this datasheet, the term ‘opioids’ is used to refer to opium and to opium-derived and semisynthetic products (including for instance, heroin, morphine, morphine-base, methadone and fentanyl). There are two forms of imported heroin in Europe: brown heroin (a free base), which is commonly available, and white heroin (the hydrate hydrochloride salt), which is less common. Brown heroin, which is mainly produced in south-west Asia — especially Afghanistan — may be ‘smoked’ by heating the solid on a metal foil above a small flame and inhaling the vapour, a method often referred to as ‘chasing the dragon’. Those intending to inject brown heroin must first solubilise it with, for example, citric acid or ascorbic acid. White heroin is produced in south-east Asia (e.g. Myanmar). It is suitable for direct injection as a solution. Until the late 1970s, nearly all heroin consumed in Europe came from south-east Asia, but now most originates from south-west Asia. Heroin is also produced in certain parts of the Americas (e.g. Colombia, Mexico), but Americas-produced material is rarely seen in Europe. Heroin is listed in Schedule I of the United Nations 1961 Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs. Diamorphine is also included in a generic sense since the 1972 Protocol, which revised the 1961 Convention, extended control to esters and ethers of scheduled substances. Thus, diamorphine is the diacetyl ester of morphine (Schedule 1). Acetic anhydride, an essential processing chemical in the manufacture of heroin, is listed in Table I of the United Nations 1988 Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.

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