The International Board of Narcotics has recently posted a report for 2017, which is based on several other reports.
The Balkan route dominates the corridor of drug traffics in Eastern Europe.
In this route, narcotics are transported from original sources, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and they transit through Turkey, Balkan and end up in Central and Western Europe.
Balkan has had several mafia groups replacing each other, but the main route remains the one between Bulgaria, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia and Austria. A smaller part if trafficked through Macedonia and Kosovo, usually for packaging.
However, international cooperation with potential candidate countries, such as Albania, Bosnia, Serbia and Macedonia, continues strongly by further assisting and developing their internal interception systems, based on international frameworks.
As for the cannabis that enters the EU, it is often cultivated in these countries, with Albania remaining the main source of the cannabis that enters EU.
In 2016, the cultivation of cannabis in indoor environments has increased, and this was reported in several EU countries, such as Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.
In Albania, the cannabis situation during 2016 was characterized by more cultivated areas, and with more marine and aerial routes for trafficking. Due to the increased quantity, the cannabis price in Albania dropped to 100-400 EUR per kg.
From 2015 to 2016, the areas of cannabis plantations in Albania was increased by 164%, reaching a total of 30 tons, as compared to 11 .3 tons that were seized one year before that.
The cannabis price dropped from 600 to 1300 EUR per kg in 2015, to 100-400 EUR per kg in 2016.
As for the heroin traffic, the transportation is carried out through land routes, aiming to sell it to Central and Western Europe, through trucks, buses and private vehicles.
Greece and Italy are the main destinations of the heroin traffic. More heroine has been kept in Albania as well, for local usage. According to official statistics, there is 55% growth of the seized quantity in 2016, compared to 2015. The price remains almost the same, 16,000 EUR to 18,000 EUR per kg of heroin. In 2016, the average price for a gram of heroin was 22 EUR on the street, but its purity varied from 1 to 15%.
Top Channel
