Annual drug trafficking in Kazakhstan estimated at 20-25 tons

Annual illicit drug trafficking in Kazakhstan is estimated to make 20-25 tons, Kazinform News Agency quotes Majilis deputy Daniya Yespayeva as saying.

“Drug use remains one of the major problems around the world. Drugs affect the processes of development of all spheres of life. Over the past 10 years, the number of drug users grew by 23 percent globally from 240 million to 296 million people. According to the UN, the scale of drug use and drug trafficking continue to rise posing a threat to the national security of the country. Kazakhstan also faces such a problem. The annual volume of illicit drug trafficking in Kazakhstan is estimated to make 20-25 tons of which more than 95 percent fall on cannabis, some five percent account for opium, heroin and other drugs,” Daniya Yespayeva told the Government Hour at the Majilis on war on drugs.

As the statistics claim, 3,425 were arrested last year for drug-related offenses, and 3,393 over the past 10 months, that is 14% of all convicted countrywide.

In his turn, Kazakh Interior Minister Yerzhan Sadenov said there are over 1,000 illicit drugs in the world. The country’s drug situation is stipulated by three key factors: availability of cannabis raw material, trafficking of Afghan heroin along the Northern route, and spread of synthetic drugs.