Drugs Transiting Romania Could Be Stored Locally – U.S. Report

The drugs that transit Romania are opium, morphine and heroin, coming from Afghanistan and heading towards Central and Western Europe. Synthetic drugs and precursor chemicals move eastward along this route towards Turkey and the Middle East (synthetic drugs like Captagon) and beyond back to Afghanistan (precursors), where the refining of opium into heroin and base increasingly occurs,” the report reads.

According to the report, „drug use remained relatively constant, with some increase noted in the use of un-controlled pharmaceuticals by Romanian youth. The illicit traffic in pre-cursor chemicals, for use in heroin and synthetic drug production in countries further East increased in Romania.”

The authors of the document also mention quantities of ecstasy temporarily stored in Romania, which would reach the U.S. and Canada.

Bucharest authorities estimate that 80% of drugs entering Romania are meant for western countries.

It is believed that heroin, ecstasy and other drugs are stored in large quantities in Romania, awaiting further transportation, Romania constantly becomes a place of storage for large quantities of heroin coming from Afghanistan through Iran, Turkey and Bulgaria, and heading towards Central and Western Europe, on the Southern Balkans route.

The report goes on saying that „while Romania is not a major source of production or cultivation of drugs, it may be a source of amphetamines. Use of Romania as a transshipment point for South American cocaine to Western Europe also appears to be increasing, as evidenced by a large seizure of cocaine from South America in early 2009. African-based hashish trafficking organizations may also be using Romania as a transshipment point.”