The Tribune

DRUG trafficking continues to be a major problem around the world, its proceeds constituting a “fundamental part” of some national economies, Minister of National Security Dr Bernard Nottage said.

Meanwhile, a recent World Drug Report released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that between $200-$250 billion, or 0.3 per cent of the world’s combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be needed to cover all costs of drug treatment worldwide.

A second study, Dr Nottage said, suggests the costs associated with drug-related crime (fraud, burglary, robbery and shoplifting) in England and Wales were equivalent to 1.6 per cent of GDP, and 90 per cent of all of the economic and social costs related to drug use.

“We should not for one moment under-estimate the scale of the continuing drug problem and it is not only the personal tragedies which illegal drug trafficking causes, heart-rendering as they are,” Dr Nottage said.

“There are groups, not just the drug barons, but growers and middle-men, who do not want us to succeed (in the war on drugs).

“They do not care what damage and human tragedies they cause – their motive is money and they will stop at nothing to get it. (This) is the great danger which makes everything we do even more urgent,” Dr Nottage said.

He was addressing the opening session of the Sixth INTERPOL Capacity-Building Training in the Fight Against Drugs and Organised Crime on Sunday in New Providence.

Dr Nottage said a 2012 United Nations World Drug Report indicated that Central America and the Caribbean continue to be used as major transit points for South American cocaine generally heading northwards to the North American market, and more increasingly, the European market.

The increasing power of drug gangs, Dr Nottage said, has helped to raise corruption and homicide rates in the region.

“At the same time, organised crime groups exploit human mobility to smuggle migrants and undermine financial systems through money-laundering.

“The vast sums of money involved can compromise legitimate economies and directly impact public processes through corruption.

“It yields high profits for its culprits and results in high risks for individuals who fall victim to it.”

Dr Nottage said countless people lose their lives every year at the hands of criminals involved in drugs or other organised crime.

“Others have succumbed to drug-related health problems or injuries inflicted by firearms or lose their lives as a result of the unscrupulous methods and motives of human traffickers,” he added.