unitex@rubbs.fidonet.org (unitex) (09/16/89)
The Soviet Union considered the text of the 1988 Convention as
well- balanced. It had signed the Convention and had taken
steps towards ratification, including changes in legislation.
New laws were being developed
and practical steps to meet the obligations of the Convention
were being taken
M.M. BHATNAGAR (India) said his country continued to be
vulnerable to transit traffic in drugs because of its position
between two illicit sources, the Near and Middle East, and the
Golden Triangle.
Indian laws had been further strengthened, providing for
preventive detention up to a maximum period of two years for
drug offenders, forfeiture of property of drug traffickers, the
death penalty for second drug convictions, regulatory control
for proscribed substances and making drug offences
non-bailable.
Initiatives like the establishment of an India/United States
Narcotics Working Group for promotion of closer co-operation had
been undertaken. An India/Pakistan committee had been set up to
evolve a strategy against drug- trafficking activities.
Bilateral talks were held with other neighbours, including Sri
Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and Burma. The ratification of the
1988 Convention was under consideration by the Government.
He noted that heroin seizures had registered a sharp rise since
1986.
KOSON LIMPICHART (Thailand) said his was a transit country. In
1987, a single fishing trawler smuggling 680 kilograms of heroin
had been captured. In February 1988, Thai officials had seized
1,086 kilograms of heroin in a single shipment.
In early 1989, United States officials had seized 360 kilograms
of heroin which had passed through Thailand and Singapore to the
West Coast markets. Thailand had responded by stepping up
interdiction measures against smuggling.
Destinations of drug shipments from Thailand were the United
States, Australia, Malaysia, the Netherlands, the United
Kingdom, the Federal Republic of Germany and Canada. Thailand
had utilized every resource to combat the spread of drugs. In
1988, 54,464 street dealers and consumers had been arrested, and
substantial amounts of drugs had been seized. The outstanding
figures were the 2,207 kilograms of heroin and 6,447 of raw opium
which had been seized. Nine heroin refineries and chemical
warehouses had also been destroyed. For the first half of 1989,
20,824 small dealers and consumers had been arrested with 167
kilograms of heroin. 1,205 kilograms of raw opium were seized
and five heroin refineries had been destroyed.
EMILE CONDO TRO (Cote d'Ivoire) said seizures of drug crops,
especially cannabis, were on the rise. Illicit drug traffic
from Benin, Togo and Ghana was up.
The influx of cocaine was rising, and domestic consumption of
heroin and cocaine had become been firmly established, he said.
Cote d'Ivoire was tackling the crisis on three levels:
prevention, suppression and rehabilitation.
In prevention, there was no close co-operation between police and
border officials, he said. An education programme aimed at all
ages had been set up. An annual drug prevention check had also
been organized and rehabilitation programmes established. A new
Drug Prevention Policy Department had been organized.
He supported international co-operation to fight illicit drug
trafficking and said Cote d'Ivoire had co-operated in that area
with several nations and organizations, including the United
Nations Fund for Drug Abuse Control.
MOHAMED FATHY EID (Egypt) said the efforts of Colombia were
unique. They were the struggle of a brotherly people. He said
that since the last HONLEA meeting, drug smugglers had found and
created new and unconventional routes and methods for drug
smuggling.
In Egypt, some traffickers and offenders had attacked a police
station, and when they had finally been cornered, it led to a
street battle in which the drug dealers were shot dead. Drugs
smuggled into Egypt usually came through Europe or other parts
of the Middle East, including the Red Sea route through the
Sudan.
He said a ship, the "Reef Star", had been seized in the Suez area
with four tons of opium and two tons of hashish. Nineteen
members of a drug- smuggling gang had been on board and they
received death sentences. Egypt co-operated with a number of
countries and regionally with other Arab countries.
BERNARD GRAVET (France) said the French Interior Minister would
attend the meeting later in the week to express French and
European Community support for anti-drug trafficking efforts in
Colombia.
France admired those members of law enforcement and the legal
professions who were performing their duties under such great
pressures.
Since 1985, drug use in France had plateaued. That was due to
many factors: fear of acquired immune deficiency syndrome
(AIDS), lower birth rates and a reaffirmation of moves against
drug trafficking. Heroin use in France was dropping, cocaine
was used by a small number of people, while crack and LSD had
not been successfully established in the French illicit-drug
market.
Due to recent anti-drug moves in the United States, France was
under pressure from cocaine cartels seeking new markets. New
French measures included increasing penal sanctions for dealers,
the freezing and seizing of assets derived from drug
trafficking, an increase in the staff of the specialized
services, and the establishment of a central office for major
criminal activities. France believed a solution would be found
only at an international level and through the use of bilateral
and multilateral co-operation.
* Origin: UNITEX --> Toward a United Species (1:107/501)
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Patt Haring | UNITEX : United Nations
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