A nonprofit organization in Mexico states that up to 500 people are kidnapped every month in Mexico in 2009.

The Federal Government of Mexico officials reports that around 97 people are kidnapped each month in 2009.

Source:  Catherine E. Shoichet, “Victim’s dad: Drug war distracts from kidnapping,” Google News, September 30, 2009.

Losses from the illegal use and smuggling of red diesel in the United Kingdom is estimated to be about 350 Million Pounds ($560 Million US).

Source: John Baker, “Crackdown on red diesel,” Spalding Today,October 25, 2007.

Around 12, 000 people visit emergency rooms in the United States because of overdosing on prescription pain killers.

Source:  Liz Szabo, “Prescriptions now biggest cause of fatal drug overdoses,” USA Today, September 30, 2009.

In 2009, Thailand stationed 1,500 troops on its norther border with Burma/Myanmar for the purpose of drug interdiction.

Source: Thomas Fuller, “Myanmar Drug Trade Surges Along Thai Border,” New York Times, September 30, 2009.

Authorities in Thailand had a 2,100 percent increase in heroin seizures in 2009 compared to the previous year.

1,268 kilograms of heroin was seized leading up to August 2009, compared to 57 kilograms the previous year.

Source:  Thomas Fuller, “Myanmar Drug Trade Surges Along Thai Border,” New York Times, September 30, 2009.

90 percent of all weapons smuggled into Mexico is believed to be for the 4 major drug cartels in Mexico.

• Sinaloa Cartel
• Gulf Cartel
• Tijuana Cartel
• Juarez Cartel

Security analysts state that these smuggled weapons are the main reason that the drug cartels are better equiped than law enforcement in Mexico.

Source: Alejandra Labanca, “U.S. businesses at risk of becoming targets of Mexican drug cartels,” Miami Herald, September 30, 2009.

In an opinion piece written by the head of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Antonio Maria Costa writes that about 200,000 people around the world die each year from illegal drugs. In comparison, he states that 5 million die from tobacco and 1.8 million from alcohol.

Source:  Antonio Maria Costa, “How many lives would have been lost if we didn’t have controls on drugs?,” The Observer, September 20, 2009.

According to oil officials in Kuwait, $2.5 Million of diesel a day, or $912.5 Million a year, is smuggled into Iraq from Kuwait.

Source: “Kuwait MP calls to question Oil Minister over fuel smuggling to Iraq,” Alsumaria, September 30, 2009.

Authorities in Jordan uncovered 80 cases of organ trafficking in 2007.

Source:  AFP, “Jordan charges 11 ‘organ traffickers’,” Google News, September 30, 2009.

Prostitution and the Illegal Drug Trade in Hungary was worth an estimated $1.9 Billion in 2005.

Source:  Zoltan Simon, “Hungary Sizes Up Prostitution, Drugs, Boosting GDP,” Bloomberg, September 30, 2009.