and Drugs Report [ 2010

WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION

Foreword

FOREWORD

It is a great honour to present to you the Operation took place in June 2010 with 25 rolling out new canine centres with the req- World Customs Organization’s (WCO) participating Member countries from West uisite training programmes and operational Report on international trafficking in drugs and Central Africa, together with Brazil and models to accompany them. and precursors for 2010. Morocco. A review of this Operation is con- tained in the third part of this Report. In The 2010 Customs and Drugs Report is di- This Report, which takes stock of and view of the excellent results achieved during vided into three main parts with statistical analyses drug seizures made by Customs this second Operation, Members wished to annexes. The first part gives an overview of services and joint teams in 2010, forms part repeat this exercise in 2011. the major drug types intercepted world- of a dynamic drug enforcement approach wide. The regional approach in terms of the which I wished to implement. These COCAIR Operations serve as the op- results achieved and the key trends noted by erational application of Project “AIRCOP” in Members are covered in the second part. On 26 June 2010, the WCO Secretariat cele- which the WCO is playing an active role. Finally, the third part presents special items, brated International Day against Drug Abuse AIRCOP is aimed at enhancing border con- with particular emphasis on initiatives and and Illicit Trafficking, an event launched by trols and management, especially in the in- projects implemented by the WCO the United Nations Office on Drugs and ternation al airports of Africa, South America Secretariat for its Members. Crime (UNODC). To that end, I asked all and the Caribbean. Joint Airport Interdic- Directors General of WCO Member coun- tion Task Forces (JAITFs) are being set up Overall, the number of drug seizures re- tries to organize a variety of activities on that and provided with access to the WCO’s ported by WCO Members in 2010 de- day. This included operations to destroy CENcomm secure communication tool, as creased compared to 2009 and there was drugs and chemical precursors seized by well as to INTERPOL’s I-24/7 system. also a slight drop in the total quantity of Customs; actions to raise public awareness drugs intercepted as reported by Members. about drug-related problems; heightened As part of these efforts, the Secretariat or- This decrease can be explained by a number controls; and symposiums to show how ganized a Global Forum on the topic of dog of factors, primarily changes in some Customs and other law enforcement agen- and handler teams as part of the enforce- Members' operating structures and the fact cies are marshalling their forces to combat ment apparatus. The Forum was held from that some Members experienced difficulties drug trafficking. A poster promoting 25 to 27 January 2011, encompassing the in providing seizure data in time to be in- International Day against Drug Abuse and celebrations to mark International Customs cluded in this Report. The WCO Secretariat Illicit Trafficking was produced by the Day. This was the First Global Forum held will work with Members to obtain more Secretariat and made available to Members. by the WCO on this issue, which requires a comprehensive data for the 2011 Report. continuous exchange of experiences. The success of pilot Operation “COCAIR 1”, Nonetheless, the figures show that 21,079 the first of its kind in Africa, initiated by the The primary objective of this Forum was to seizure reports covering a total of 764 WCO, implemented in close co-operation share current best practices and experiences tonnes of drugs were recorded in 2010. with INTERPOL, UNODC and funded by among the various countries having set up the European Commission, was built upon dog and handler training centres, as well as Over the course of 2010, seizures of all and led to Operation “COCAIR 2”. The to identify shared challenges in terms of forms of cannabis (resin, herbal and oil)

2 WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 Foreword

amounted to a total of 640 tonnes, a drop of the overall quantity of amphetamines and I would like to extend my sincere apprecia- over 9 % compared to 2009. Spain never- methamphetamines seized by Customs tion to WCO Members and the Regional theless remains the country having seized services remained stable (16 tonnes of prod- Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs) which most cannabis resin, and Morocco is un- ucts in 2010, the same as in 2009). have made a substantial contribution to this questionably still the primary source Report by entering cases and validating country of this substance. The countries of the Middle East were the seizure data. Indeed, analysis is only as valu- most effective in terms of amphetamine able as the quantity and quality of data on A little over 76 tonnes of cocaine were inter- seizures, together with the United States in which it is based. However, there is still cepted during 2010, compared to over 65 the case of methamphetamines. room for even greater participation and I tonnes in 2009, equating to an increase of some would therefore urge administrations to do 15 %. As in 2009, the countries of Western The data in this Report was compiled using their utmost to ensure that every drug and Europe seized the most cocaine (45 %), fol- information contained in the Customs precursor seizure is input into the CEN. lowed by the United States with 35 %. Enforcement Network (CEN) database, which has been operational since July 2000. I hope that this Report will provide valuable The trend noted between 2005 and 2008, Today, 165 WCO Member administrations assistance to Customs officers responsible for showing a somewhat uncharacteristic have access to the CEN database (over combating trafficking in drugs and precur- routing whereby cocaine shipments con- 420,000 entries on all manner of Customs of- sors, especially by providing them with in- signed in South America and with Europe as fences), an information and communication formation on new routings or modi operandi their final destination were stored in and system, a dedicated enforcement website and used by traffickers or simply by giving them transited via West and Central Africa, still a data bank of places of concealment. The a greater overall picture of the phenomenon. prevails. Nevertheless, this phenomenon growing number of Customs officers using declined in importance in 2009 and 2010, this network on a daily basis bears witness to with countries in the Caribbean region its effectiveness. playing a greater role. The CEN also includes applications such as Over 33 tonnes of opiate products were inter- the CENcomm communication tool which cepted by Customs in 2010, compared to only has enjoyed burgeoning success since 2004, 23 tonnes in 2009. This substantial increase Kunio Mikuriya the year it was introduced. Many regional or can be explained by exceptional seizures of Secretary General international operations were carried out in poppy straw reported by Pakistan Customs. World Customs Organization 2010 to combat not only traf ficking in drugs The origin of opiate products intercepted in and chemical precursors, but also in the course of 2010 is essentially Afghanistan, weapons, cigarettes and counterfeit goods, thus confirming the trends observed for as well as money laundering. Some 33 oper- many years now. ations relating to various areas of crime, but essentially drugs, were conducted in 2010, With respect to psychotropic substances, compared to 24 in 2009.

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 3 Executive Summary

EXECUTIVESUMMARY

 Customs and Border Protection officers in Sydney (Australia) targeted a container of wooden doors shipped from Malaysia for examination. An X-ray of 295 doors revealed anomalies in 10 of them. Further examination revealed 24 packages of white powder inside the cavity of nine of the doors, while another contained 14 packages. Initial testing indicated that the powder was heroin. 168 kg in total were detected. (Photos courtesy of Australia Customs)

A total of 113 Members reported seizures of drugs to the CEN database, relating to 33,607 cases. The following analysis is based on data over the minimum limit: this encompasses data from 111 Members totalling 21,349 cases.

From reports Opium cultivation in Greece, Albania or the Former Yugoslav North America. In total, 46 % of the quanti- Afghanistan stayed at the same level as in Republic of Macedonia). The use of the “Silk ties seized were detected in Western Europe, 2009, although overall cultivation has de- Road Route” (via the Central Asian with 35 % being seized in the United States. clined significantly since 2007. However, the Republics of Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, figures remain high compared to those re- Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) In 2009, Venezuela was the main source ported in the first few years of the new mil- has been stable over the past two years. country of cocaine shipments worldwide, lennium. The UNODC estimates that opium followed by Mexico, Ecuador and Brazil. production declined from 8,890 to 7,754 The number of cocaine seizures decreased in This changed in 2010 with the main source tonnes over the period from 2007 to 2009. 2010, while the quantity of cocaine seized country becoming Mexico, followed by increased by almost 11 tonnes to 76.5 Colombia, Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil and An examination of European seizures in ex- tonnes. The increase is mainly due to the fact Ecuador. In 2010, Panama played a more cess of 25 kg shows that the quantities that U.S. CBP reported all its seizures to the dominant role as a departure country to- transported via the traditional “Northern CEN system. An increase in quantities seized gether with the Dominican Republic, Peru, Balkan Route” (overland via Turkey, can be seen in almost all regions. Honduras, Chile, Bolivia and Jamaica. Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria) have decreased in comparison to the so- According to reports received, the major From 2005 to 2008 the African continent called “Southern Balkan Route” (to Italy via markets for cocaine are Western Europe and was increasingly used as a transit point for

4 WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 Executive Summary

cocaine shipments originating in South does not have to cross any borders with the necessitated by the alarming situation in re- America with Europe as their final destina- risk of being detected by Customs. spect of this drug. tion. This changed again in 2009 and 2010 when the countries in the Caribbean region Ketamine is not currently an internationally It is recommended that Thailand and China began playing a more significant role as sec- controlled substance, although some coun- be considered as sources of methampheta- ondary distribution countries for cocaine tries have included it as one of the con- mine seizures made in the postal sector. shipments to Europe. trolled substances covered by their national legislation. Ketamine appears to be a In 2010, seizures of methamphetamines ar- Although the number of cannabis resin growing problem, primarily in the riving from African countries were reported seizures remained at a stable level, the quan- Asia/Pacific region as almost 94 % of the for the first time. Senegal, Benin, Togo, tities continued to decrease as only 236 quantities seized were detected in that re- Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire were reported as tonnes of hashish were intercepted in 2010. gion. Seizures by India accounted for 72 % the sources of one or two shipments. The of that amount. majority of these seizures were made at one Morocco remains the largest source of of the Paris airports (France) and the cannabis resin, especially for the black The quantity of GBL/GHB increased in 2010 couriers were heading to Japan. This new market in Europe. Trafficking patterns in compared to 2009, but this is still less than trend may become more common in 2011 Europe remain the same as in previous the quantity detected in 2008. However, the and other European countries may wish to years, with most of the drugs being trans- 2008 figure was affected by a single huge consider this routing as a high risk for ported to Spain and then overland to seizure when Australia Customs detected methamphetamine smuggling, mainly to the France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the 3,000 litres of GBL, also known as the date Japanese market. United Kingdom and Germany. rape drug “Fantasy”. Cocaine shipments from Ecuador to the Production of herbal cannabis remains A new trend, identified in 2010, is the im- Russian Federation appear to be an ongoing widespread around the globe, as the climate portation of designer drugs or so-called trend in the region. in most regions is conducive to growing the “legal highs”. These synthetic drugs may plant. produce the same effect as, for example, ec- It is recommended that Asian countries re- stasy. However, they are completely new for- gard Tanzania as a possible new departure The huge increase illustrated in the graphs is mulas produced from different substances country for heroin smuggling fr om Africa to due to the fact that the United States re- which are not considered to be illegal. Asian countries. ported its drug seizures for 2009 and 2010, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Finland and accounting for 323 tonnes of the herbal several other countries have reported that The Asia/Pacific region is growing in impor- cannabis seized worldwide. The United this is a growing problem. In 2010, a tance with respect to the quantities seized in States is a destination country for herbal Customs laboratory in Finland analysed 52 the region, as illustrated by the table. Eleven cannabis originating in Mexico. Many of the different designer drugs and 13 different countries reported cocaine seizures in 2010, seizures reported by the United States were herbal drugs. This is in sharp contrast to the as opposed to eight in 2009. made internally within the country. 2007 quantities of 16 different designer drugs and eight different herbal drugs and Couriers arriving from Iran should also be The Middle East, and especially Saudi there is no denying that designer drugs have considered as high-risk passengers in terms of Arabia, is still the main market for seizures become a worrying issue. Because of the leg- crystalline methamphetamine (in addition to of counterfeit Captagon tablets. Since these islation in force, most designer drugs are opiates), especially in the Asia/Pacific region. tablets contain amphetamines, seizures of rather misleadingly classified as prescription Captagon have been reported as ampheta- drugs. Fortunately, a new Drug Act is now The United Kingdom is the main source of mine seizures in the Middle East region. In in the process of being passed in Finland. Its North American khat seizures, amounting to total, ten tonnes of amphetamines objective is to permit official controls of sub- 11.4 tonnes in 632 incidents. Most seizures (Captagon) were reported mainly by Saudi stances which are not on the list of nar- are detected in the postal sector and the Arabia and Syria. cotics, but which are hazardous to health parcels normally weigh between 10 and 30 kg. and serve no useful purpose. In late June The reason for the decline is that ecstasy 2010, methylenedioxypyrovalerone The Dominican Republic has made signifi- production is increasingly taking place in (MDPV) was classified as a drug in Finland cant seizures of ephedrine and pseu- other regions, which means that the drug following an expedi ted classification process doephedrine, as well as prescription drugs.

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 5 Executive Summary

These are meant to be sold legally on the  In October 2010, Japan Customs officers local market, but are then diverted to assigned to Narita International airport foiled an attempt to smuggle Central America and Mexico with the aim of methamphetamines in an air consignment extracting the base substance for the manu- arriving from Benin. During a search, a total facture of methamphetamine. of 20 kg of methamphetamines were found inside 399 food items (fufu) made from cassava. Africa has been a very important transit point for cocaine shipments originating in (Photos courtesy of Japan Customs) South America and bound for Europe. A great many activities have been carried out in that region by international organizations such as the WCO, INTERPOL and the UNODC as well as by national law enforce- ment agencies. The WCO has conducted several successful operations in the region.

In 2010, the figures for cocaine seizures were affected by a massive seizure made by Gambian officials. On 4 June 2010, Gambian Customs and Police detected more than 2.3 tonnes of cocaine in premises in Banjul. Intelligence had shown that the co- caine had originated in Mexico and was bound for the black market in Western Europe.

Kuwait reported eight incidents amounting to 40 kg of drugs. It is interesting to note that in seven cases the hashish had arrived from Iraq. No other country in the region reported hashish originating in Iraq, how- ever Iraq should still be considered a high- risk source country for cannabis resin.

6 WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 Introduction

INTRODUCTION

The Annual “Customs and Drugs” Report is prepared by the World Customs Organization (WCO) and is intended for the use of WCO Members and other law enforcement agencies. This year’s Report again considers the analysis of seizures on a regional basis and includes a brief global overview on each of the main drug categories in order to provide information on the cur- rent production and trafficking trends not identified by regional analysis.

The seizure data have been compiled from the WCO Customs Enforcement Network (CEN) database, which has been operational since July 2000. Today, 165 countries, in- volving more than 2,000 users, have access to CEN. More than 420,000 cases of  Denmark Customs detected 3 kg of Customs fraud have been entered by heroin inside oranges and rotten aubergines. The two Dutch couriers had Member states or by their respective RILO. To permit comparisons between the seizures, arrived in a rental car. They were WCO Member states and the RILOs have we have converted all amounts of tablets extremely nervous and were consequently contributed to this Report by entering cases into kilograms by using the conversion rate selected for a thorough inspection. and by validating seizure data. of one tablet to one third of a gram. Seizures (Photos courtesy of Denmark Customs) reported in ampoule, capsule, unit, etc. are All figures and conclusions have been com- considered as being reported in tablet form piled from the CEN as reported by 25 and are therefore also converted into kilo- March 2011. Data which have been pro- grams using the conversion rate mentioned vided later than this date will have arrived above. too late to be included in this Report. We are aware that there are significant gaps in the This Report and the analysis and trends that information available. emerge from it are only as credible as the in- formation from which it has been drawn. It This Report includes only seizures made by is stressed that considerable care is needed Customs, joint Customs & Police Units or when drawing conclusions from the statis- Drug type Minimum limits by other law enforcement agencies having tics in the drugs field. Exceptionally large Cocaine 100 grams Customs powers. As the reporting limits are seizures might boost the analysis, and there- Opiates 100 grams not the same in all regions, the highest fore the statistical appendices give an Cannabis 1 kg common limits have been used, enabling overview of the largest seizures made in the Khat 10 kg comparisons to be made. The limits are main drug categories. Psychotropic shown in the table below. substances 50 grams

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 7 The WCO RILO Network

Belgium

M

St. Lucia Senegal

Cameroon

WCO CEN Team Belgium RILO Eastern and Central Europe Poland RILO Western Europe Germany RILO CIS countries Russian Federation RILO Asia and the Pacific China RILO South America Chile RILO North Africa Morocco RILO West Africa Senegal RILO Central Africa Cameroon Chile RILO Eastern and Southern Africa Kenya RILO Middle East Saudi Arabia JIO Caribbean St. Lucia

68 WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 The WCO RILO Network

Russian Federation

Germany

Poland

China

Morocco Saudi Arabia

Kenya

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 69 Contact

CONTACT

WCO CEN TEAM BRUSSELS NORTH AFRICA - MOROCCO SOUTH AMERICA - CHILE Tel: 32 2 209 9211 ADMINISTRATIOND ES DOUANES ET DIRECCIÓN NACIONAL DE ADUANAS (switchboard) - ext. 308 IMPÔTS Plaza Sotomayor, 60 Fax: 32 2 209 94 93 INDIRECTS Valparaiso email: [email protected] Avenue Annakhil. Hay Ryad. Tel: 56 32 20 0645 Rabat Fax: 56 3 2 23 3163 / 32 25 3682 WESTERN EUROPE Tel: 212 5 37 57 9442 e-mail: [email protected] GERMANY Fax: 212 5 37 71 7838 (ZKA) E-mail: [email protected] JOINT INTELLIGENCE OFFICE (JIO) Bergisch Gladbacher Str. 837 CARIBBEAN 51069 Cologne EASTERN/SOUTHERN AFRICA - KENYA CCLEC – CARIBBEAN CUSTOMS LAW EN- Tel: 49 221 672 4112 KENYA REVENUE FORCEMENT COUNCIL Fax: 49 221 672 4111 AUTHORITY 4.Manoel Street e-mail: [email protected] Customs Services Department, P.O.Box 1030 Forodha House Castries. St. Lucia CENTRAL/EASTERN EUROPE - POLAND 1st Floor, Ngong Road, Upper Hill Tel: 1 758 453 2556 POLISH CUSTOMS P.O. Box 72236 Fax: 1 758 453 2563 SERVICE MINISTRY OF FINANCE 00200 Nairobi e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] 00-916 Warsaw. Poland Tel: 254 20 27 19234 12 Swietokrzyska Str. Fax: 254 20 27 17720 Tel: 48 22 694 3591 e-mail: [email protected] Fax: 48 22 694 3543 e-mail: [email protected] CENTRAL AFRICA CAMEROON DIRECTION GENERALE DES DOUANES CIS – RUSSIAN FEDERATION 05, Quai de la marine CENTRAL ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT OF B.P. 4049 THE FEDERAL Douala Novozavodskaja Street 11/5 Tel : 237 3301 0464 or 237 3343 1905 121087 Moscow Fax: 237 3301 0510 or 237 3342 8449 Tel: 7 495 449 8686 / 449 8656 e-mail: [email protected] Fax: 7 495 449 8620 / 449 8686 e-mail: [email protected] WEST AFRICA - SENEGAL Rue René Ndiaye. Angle Carde ASIA/PACIFIC – CHINA B.P. 4033 CHINESE CUSTOMS Dakar ADMINISTRATION Tel: 221 33 822 1185 10th Floor. East Wing. Jia 10. Fax: 221 33 822 5569 Guang Hua Road - Chao Yang District e-mail: [email protected] 100026 Beijing Tel: 86 10 8573 6348 MIDDLE EAST Fax: 86 10 8573 6349 SAUDI ARABIA e-mail: [email protected] CUSTOMS DEPARTMENT P.O. Box 22631. 11416 Riyadh Tel: 966 1 478 7889 Fax: 966 1 478 5887 e-mail: [email protected]

70 WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 WCO Mission Statement

The World Customs Organization is inter- nationally acknowledged as the global centre of Customs expertise and plays a leading role in the discussion, development, promotion and implementation of modern and secure Customs systems and proce- dures. It is responsive to the needs of its Members and its strategic environment, and its instruments and best-practice ap- proaches are recognized as the basis for sound Customs administration throughout the world. WCO Vision Statement

The World Customs Organization is an in- dependent intergovernmental body whose mission is to enhance the efficiency and ef- fectiveness of Member Customs administra- tions, thereby assisting them to contribute successfully to national development goals, particularly in the areas of trade facilitation, revenue collection, community protection and national security.

Acknowledgements

The World Customs Organization is very grateful for the specific contributions to this annual report provided by: All Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices and their National Contact Points including use of their bulletins; International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). ICPO/INTERPOL and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010 71 72 WCO ANNUAL REPORT 2010

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