{{A UN report says the East African region is an international hub in the supply chain for illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine.}}
Last week the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released the report saying over 1,000kgs of heroine were seized in the region between March and May 2013 alone.
The biggest interception this year was in March when the Combined Maritime Forces captured 500kgs of heroine near the Tanzanian island of Zanzibar, while 317kgs were recovered from a ship some 118 kilometers off the Tanzanian coast in May.
Apart from being major transit countries, there is suspicion that a growing number of Kenyans and Tanzanians are consuming the illicit drugs. UNODC estimates that cocaine worth $160 million is consumed in Kenya and Tanzanian annually.
Rwanda National Police spokesman Damas Gatare said that due to stringent surveillance, the country remains largely free from cocaine and heroin with only one person arrested attempting to transit small quantity of heroine in the past.
UN investigators say that the current seizure of large quantities of illicit drugs may be an indication that they have been flowing into the region undetected. The 29-nation Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) stepped up surveillance since 2009.
The report, titled: Transitional Organised Crime in Eastern Africa, says that there is evidence of a rise in the consumption in the region.
“The alternative is that the flow has indeed increased, either due to growth in local demand or growth in the use of Eastern Africa as a transit area or both,” the report states.
The UN says it is also possible that the latest wave of seizures in Kenya and Tanzania could be because traffickers may have shifted to East Africa due to disruptions on their traditional supply route to Europe (Pakistan-Iran-Turkey to southern Europe).
source: Newtimes
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