BUDAPEST (June 16) XINHUA The World Customs
Organization (WCO) issued "Customs & Drugs
Report for 1996" here today, reporting that the quantities of both
opiates and cocaine seized in the world are less than those last
year.

The report says that the opiates seized in the world totalled 16,835
kilos, which decreased by 42.77 percent from 1995's 29,417 kilos,
including 10,026 kilos of cocaine, 2,697 kilos of opium, 1,536 kilos
of morphine, and 2,576 kilos of poppy straw.

Some 76,765 kilos of cocaine was seized in 1996, compared with
the 286, 347 kilos of 1995. And South America is still the main
growing area of cocaine, which is mainly trafficked to Europe and
the U.S. by sea.

The total of all kinds of cannabis products seized in 1996
amounted to 807,633 kilos, less than the 1,278,321 kilos of 1995.
Many countries in the world are growing marijuana, which mainly
goes to Western Europe.

The Balkan route is a main passageway, through which, the
heroin seized in 1996 reached 4.8 tons, amounting to 48 percent of
the total heroin all over the world, the report says. About three
tons of heroin was seized in Asia last year.

Myanmar is still one of the biggest illegal poppy straw growing
areas in the world, and Afghanistan is the biggest one in Western
Asia, the report says.

A disturbing trend is that the psychotropic substances for
medical use seized in customs increased sharply, far exceeding the
amount of 1995.

[Copyright 1997, Comtex]