“Today, the illicit drug market is becoming more unpredictable, driven by the impact of synthetic drugs,” Ghada Waly, Director-General of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), said, addressing the opening of the latest session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.

“Trafficking routes run through war zones and rule of law vacuums, from Haiti to the Levant to the Golden Triangle, fuelling instability.”

Tracking the global illicit drug trade

With over 2,000 participants and 179 side events, the commission’s session takes place from 10 to 14 March, with experts from around the world taking stock of the narcotic drugs trade as countries grapple with deadly tides of opioids like fentanyl while also highlighting gains made through joint operations.

For its part, UNODC supports more than 180 border control units in 87 countries to intercept drug flows. In 2024, UN-facilitated seizures included 300 tonnes of cocaine, 240 tonnes of synthetic drugs and 100 tonnes of precursors.

“We are facilitating backtracking investigations, bringing together law enforcement agencies and prosecutors from source, transit and destination countries,” Ms. Whaly explained.

Watch the opening session here:

A new black market

She also warned of emerging threats. Technology is radically transforming and accelerating how drugs are sold and distributed, with the dark web having created a “new black market” for synthetic drugs and precursors, Ms. Whaly said.

“Cryptocurrencies allow traffickers to move illicit profits undetected, and social media platforms have become major channels for promoting and advertising drugs online, particularly targeting young people and vulnerable users,” she said.

She also cautioned that drug trafficking networks are capitalising on these changes to expand their reach.

Chasing the most urgent threat

One of the biggest threats is synthetic drugs, she said. Synthetic manufacturing labs are being uncovered in new countries and regions. Indeed, more than 1,300 distinct psychoactive substances have been reported to UNODC to date.

At the same time, amphetamine-type stimulants and pharmaceutical opioids are registering record seizures. Synthetic opioids of the nitazine class are on the rise, with 26 different substances reported to UNODC so far, she added.

“Synthetic drugs have become one of the most urgent and elusive drug challenges that we face,” Ms. Whaly said. “They are evolving every day, expanding in reach and growing in potency.”

Clandestine labs

Clandestine production laboratories are emerging in parts of the world typically not known to produce synthetic drugs, Ms. Whaly said.

The methods to manufacture drugs and the means to traffic them are constantly evolving. Now, the internet is growing as a marketplace for drugs as well as a platform to exchange knowledge on how to make them.

Unlike plant-based substances, synthetic drugs can be manufactured quickly, at a low cost, almost anywhere in the world. They can also be moved across borders in bulk, often concealed in legitimate exports or in such large quantities that individual seizures “barely make a dent”, Ms. Whaly said.

“Simply put, they are harder to identify, intercept and interrupt,” she added.

Fuelling instability

Every region has suffered from the spread of synthetic drugs, she said, citing several examples:

In the Middle East and Africa, the captagon trade – a highly addictive stimulant popular on the battlefield - has been fuelling instability, with production and smuggling now deeply intertwined with conflict, Ms. Whaly said.

In Iraq, seizures of the drug surged by more than 3,300 per cent between 2019 and 2023, with authorities seizing 4.1 tonnes in a single year.

Large stockpiles were discovered in Syria, she said, adding that the situation following the fall of Assad requires close monitoring and attention.

In Southeast Asia, authorities seized a record 190 tons of methamphetamine in 2023, with criminal networks exploiting the region’s porous borders to move their product. Meth products are often found in heroin, vapes and counterfeit tablets and can be even more potent than fentanyl.

The Commission on Narcotic Drugs was established by Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 1946 to assist in supervising the application of the international drug control treaties. Learn more about the commission here.