DRUG TRAFFICKING ON INTERNET GROWING

VIENNA, Austria -- Czech drug traffickers arrange deals at Internet cafes.
Australians use courier Web sites to track illegal packages of pills.
American dealers swap recipes for amphetamines in restricted-access chat rooms.

Worldwide, drug traffickers increasingly are taking advantage of encrypted
e-mail and other Internet technology to sell their stashes, launder money
and trade tips and techniques, the U.N. International Narcotics Control
Board warned Wednesday in a report.

Because Internet use doubles every six months and 700 million people were
online at the end of last year, greater vigilance and international
cooperation are needed "to prevent the Internet from turning into a
worldwide web of drug trafficking," said Hamid Ghodse, the INCB's president.

Among the Vienna-based agency's causes for concern:

* In the United States, Internet swapping of techniques for manufacturing
amphetamines in underground laboratories has become so widespread, the
drugs are now being made by people who are not college-educated chemists --
often resulting in injury-causing explosions and fires.

"In the past, drug recipes were closely guarded secrets, but with modern
computer technology and chemists' increasing willingness to share their
knowledge, this information is now available to anyone with computer
access," the report said.

* In the Czech Republic, authorities are reporting a spike in drug sales
and purchases arranged online at Internet cafes or via text messages
transmitted between cellular telephones. "Because illicit drug deals are
arranged instantaneously and over short distances, interception by law
enforcement authorities is much more difficult," it said.

* In Australia, traffickers are using Web-based package tracking services
offered by international courier companies to keep tabs on the progress of
their shipments. Any undue delay could signal that authorities have
intercepted the drugs, giving the dealers time to cover their tracks.

* In Hong Kong, narcotics police say detecting money laundering of cash
earned by drug traffickers has gotten tricky now that so many dealers are
using electronic commerce and Internet banking facilities. In one case,
Chinese authorities said traffickers penetrated a customs database and
electronically altered the details and status of a freight shipment in an
attempt to avoid detection.

Dealers are using the Internet "to move large sums electronically around
the world with speed, ease and secrecy -- ideal attributes for launderers
of illicit drug funds," said the INCB, which was set up by the United
Nations to monitor compliance with international drug treaties.

Other agencies are noticing the same trends.

The Internet has become the most widely used medium for expanding
production of synthetic drugs in some Central and South American countries,
the Inter-American Drug Abuse Control Commission said in a recent report.

And Interpol says more than 1,000 Web sites worldwide -- most based in
Switzerland and the Netherlands -- are selling cannabis, Ecstasy and other
illicit drugs.

"When the approach is 'virtual,' the warning signals that might deter or
frighten a young person in the real world are minimized, and the filtering
process by which an individual moves into physical contact with a criminal
organization disappears," the INCB said.

A patchwork of laws that vary widely between countries gives traffickers an
opportunity to use the Internet "to trail their activities across several
jurisdictions to minimize law enforcement risks and maximize profit," it
said, calling for a U.N. convention on cyber crime.

Although some countries have developed specialized computer forensic
programs designed to "sniff out" suspect Internet communications,
authorities also must contend with laws restricting the tracing and seizure
of evidence and those upholding privacy and freedom of speech.

"The concerns raised by civil liberty groups over the invasion of privacy
and the potential to limit freedom of expression are genuine and must be
heeded," the INCB cautioned.

On the Net:

International Narcotics Control Board, http:""www.incb.org