The activities of cross-border illicit drug and psychoactive substance-trafficking networks have been on the rise. Moreover, their activities are no longer confined to concrete geopolitical space, but they are also flourishing in cyberspace.

This presents a growing security concern for many countries. These illicit networks jeopardise national security by the harm they cause to national economies through their murky and illegal financial transactions. They also cause socio-demographic damage that can impact on the human components of the state’s military, economic, and political capacities.

The impacts of these networks stem from the economic power that enables them to produce, manufacture, and sell a variety of drugs, some of which are natural in origin like cannabis, medicinal drugs intended for other purposes such as Lyrica, or synthetic substances like Captagon.

In addition to traditional cross-border smuggling, the networks also employ Dark Web channels and Deep Web technologies to market illicit substances and collect payments using cryptocurrencies, making it difficult for law-enforcement agencies to identify and trace them.

In general, the degree of government attention dedicated to dismantling these networks through law-enforcement agencies is not commensurate to the magnitude of their detrimental impacts. They are often considered secondary to other security threats like terrorism, since they do not directly result in casualties or the physical destruction of vital infrastructure and facilities. Nevertheless, the harm to national security caused by these networks over the medium term can surpass that of terrorist attacks and other acts of violence.

Data released by intergovernmental organisations such as Interpol, Europol, and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) offer an alarming picture of the size and impact of the global illicit drugs market.

According to Europol’s annual report on the illicit drugs market in EU countries, published in June this year, the size of the illicit drugs market in the EU has reached 31 billion euros, with cannabis, cocaine, and heroin topping the list of trafficked drugs.

Globally, the UNODC’s World Drug Report for 2024 reports that the number of illicit drug and psychoactive substance users has risen to 292 million people worldwide. About one in every 18 people aged 15 to 64 has used an illicit drug of some sort, with women accounting for 24 per cent of total illicit-drug users globally.

According to the report, cannabis is the most widely used drug worldwide. But it also observes a growing prevalence of synthetic substances such as fentanyl in North America, tramadol in West Africa, methamphetamine in East and Southeast Asia, and amphetamines, including Captagon, in the Middle East.

The online activities of illicit drug-trafficking networks have boomed in recent years, with Hydra Market and Mega Darknet being among the largest. Until it was dismantled in April 2022, Hydra Market had operated for six years during which it controlled 80 to 90 per cent of the global trade in illicit drugs and psychoactive substances. Approximately 17 million users frequented its Dark Web platforms.

Mega Darknet came to dominate the Dark Web space in 2023, recording a 63 per cent share of total wholesale drug sales to a value exceeding $1,000 for each order.

Other networks are more active in the retail trade in illicit drugs and psychoactive substances. The best known are the ASAP and Incognito networks. Together, they represent the largest retail market on the Dark Web, accounting for 66 per cent of the retail sales of drugs and psychoactive substances valued at $100 to $499 to consumers.

The rise in illicit drug-trafficking activities in cyberspace has not brought a commensurate decline in their ground-based activities across land and sea borders. These activities tend to increase in times of crisis, instability, and warfare.

For example, the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) bulletin reported that, on 23 May 2024 the CMF’s Combined Task Force (CTF) had succeeded in seizing approximately 2,400 kg of hashish that was being smuggled in the Arabian Sea. The CTF is tasked with preventing the smuggling of weapons and drugs in the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman, and the Indian Ocean.

Regarding the Middle East, the UNODC report of March 2024 indicates that Captagon smuggling has increased during the period covered by the report compared to the previous five years. It attributes the growth to the instability in the region and the ongoing armed conflict in Syria since 2011.

The writer is director-general of the Regional Expertise Centre for Combating Drugs and Crime at NAUSS.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 26 September, 2024 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly