Transcript Drug Highway - Open Scenario Repository

Drug Highway
September 2002
N-1
Drug Highway
• With the restoration of the central tier of Southeastern
Europe to a degree of normalcy, the flow of people (mostly
tourists and traded goods) has dramatically increased. Visits
of central and northern Europeans to the Dalmatian coast,
Greece, and Turkey have exceeded the high points of the 70s
and 80s.
• This new movement has led to an explosion in the illegal drug
trade’s use of routes from Turkey and the Ukraine to Western
Europe. The result has been a large increase in illegal drug
deliveries to Western Europe and on to the U.S.
N-2
Drug Highway (Cont)
• The countries of Southeastern Europe have all benefited
from the tourist and commercial boom. They are reluctant
to introduce any customs controls that could derail their
good fortune. Drug traffickers have infiltrated law
enforcement and policy circles, making reform even more
difficult.
• Western Europe and the United States are demanding
draconian measures to stop the “drug highway,” even offering
law enforcement assistance.
N-3
Drug Highway (Cont)
• In early October, three major drug busts in Italy, Austria, and
Germany confirm that the huge seizures did indeed come
from the “Danube Highway.”
• A series of murders of law enforcement personnel and
customs officials (at least six) and the deaths of more than
twenty mafia members in drug wars heighten demand for
order.
• So serious is the matter that the European Parliament
passes a non-binding resolution recommending no new
admissions to the EU until control over the illegal drug trade
can be established.
N-4