Drug trafficking problems

Chairman of the Green Party Gia Gachechiladze stated recently that Georgia is consuming and trafficking heroin from Afghanistan. He said some high level officials are involved in this illegal business. His comments were based on official data from the UN, EU and USA including special researches and accounts.

Officially Georgia has 280,000 drug addicts, but maybe the real figure is higher. Georgia has the highest per capita consumption of heroin of any country, with 17 heroin users out of every 1,000 people. To compare, Russia has 11 users per 1,000, Estonia 10, Great Britain and Italy 5, Ukraine 2.9.

According to UN data 11 tonnes of heroin enters the South Caucasus via Afghanistan, Iran and Azerbaijan (9 tonnes) and Afghanistan, Central Asia, the Caspian Sea and Azerbaijan (2 tonnes). Of this 7 tonnes is trafficked from Georgia to European countries, mainly via Poti port. According to same sources Georgia consumes 2.4 tonnes of heroin. UN reports state that EU countries receive heroin from Turkey (85 tonnes), Georgia (5 tonnes), Pakistan (5 tonnes), Russia, India etc. The narcotics from Georgia enter through either Bulgaria or Ukraine.

Assessing the price of heroin in Georgia, the Green Party Chairman suggests that almost USD 840 million worth of narcotics are sold in Georgia and trafficking such a quantity of narcotics would not be possible without the support of certain forces. This is very dangerous and alarming information, which should be acted upon immediately.