In the Australian city of Melbourne, paramedics were called to respond to 592 cases of crystal meth usage during 2011-2012. In the 2010-2011 year, city paramedics dealt with 282 cases of crystal meth, and 136 cases in 2009-2010.
Officials say that the calls for crystal meth problems spike during the weekends.
According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Australia has the highest price of meth in the world, with a gram costing $614.
Source: AAP, “Meth use doubles across Melbourne: report,” Sydney Morning Herald, May 14, 2013.
According to a federal agents, a prison gang was operating a racket within the Baltimore City Detention Center in the state of Maryland. Documents filed in federal court by the FBI stated that one gram bags of marijuana were being sold in the jail for $50. Pain killers were being sold for $30 a pill to inmates.
In addition to the contraband drugs, female corrections officers were having sex with the inmates. According to the FBI, four correction officers became pregnant from one inmate.
In an article in the Washington Post, the article says that the names of 14 female guards were written on a wall and that each woman was charging $150 to have sex with an inmate.
(See additional illegal prostitution prices.)
Source: Theresa Vargas, Ann E. Marimow and Annys Shin, “Baltimore jail case depicts a corrupt culture driven by drugs, money and sex,” Washington Post, May 4, 2013.
In 2012, police in New York City arrested 40,661 people for marijuana charges in the city. In 2011, there were 52,220 marijuana arrests, and 52,089 arrests in 2010.
In the first four months of 2013, there were roughly 10,000 arrests for marijuana crimes in New York City.
Across New York State, authorities seized 210 kilos during 2012, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2010, officials seized 2,500 kilos of marijuana.
Source: Brad Hamilton, “‘High’ tolerance: NYC on the road to decriminalizing pot,” New York Post, May 13, 2013.
Between July 2010 to July 2011, there were 45 deaths in the State of Florida that was caused by heroin. In the 2011 to 2012 time period, the number of deaths in the state due to heroin-related causes increased to 77, according to the Medical Examiner Commission.
In the first three moths of 2013, state law enforcement officers handled 948 criminal charges that dealt with heroin, compared to 772 charges in the first three months of 2012.
Admissions for heroin abuse at drug treatment centers also saw an increase. In 2012, there was 316 admissions for heroin abuse in Broward County, an 87 percent increase from the 169 admissions the year before. In Miami-Dade County, the number of heroin admissions increased from 227 to 308 in the first half of 2012.
Police and drug rehab experts attribute the rise in heroin use due to the crackdown on the black market in prescription drugs. Florida previously lead the nation in prescription drug abuse, with up to 7 people a day overdosing on pills in the state.
Source: Audra D.S. Burch, “As pill mills fade away, heroin fills the void,” Miami Herald, May 11, 2013.
An article in the USA Today stated that there were up to 27,000 people who are missing or vanished in Mexico since the conflict over drug trafficking began in 2006. The article also mentions a Human Rights Report that found 249 cases of forced disappearance that was conducted with the use of security services in Mexico.
Source: David Agren, “Mother’s Day in Mexico: Time to reflect on missing kids,” USA Today, May 10, 2013.
From July 2012 to November 2012, there were a reported 6,432 homicides in Mexico that were related to organized crime killings.
From December 2012 to April 2013, the first five months of President Enrqiue Pena Nieto’s administration, officials reported that the number of organized crime related homicides decreased by 18 percent to 5,296.
During the five months of Pena Nieto’s administration, 218 police and solders were killed by organized crime activities. In the July to November 2012 time frame, 244 security service members were killed.
Source: EFE, “Organized crime-related homicides in Mexico down 18 pct,” GlobalPost, May 11, 2013.
In order to make 1 kilogram of cocaine, drug producers need to cultivate around 370 kilograms of coca leaf, or over 800 pounds. The producers need over two acres of land in order to grow enough coca leaf to create a kilo of cocaine.
Source: Associated Press, “Bolivia’s Challenge: Making Coca Palatable,” ABC News, May 8, 2013.
The National Football League (NFL) stated that 7 percent of its players have abused prescription pain relievers according to a report by the Washington Post. The rate of abuse was three times higher than the general population.
In a 2010 study conducted by the Washington University School of Medicine, former NFL players were found to have been abusing opioids at a rate of more than 4 times members of the general population 52 percent of former players also reported to using opioids during their playing career, with 71 percent reporting that they misused the drugs.
The Washington Post conducted a survey of over 500 former players and found that one in four reported that they took prescription medication that they were not comfortable taking after feeling pressure from team doctors.
Source: Sally Jenkins and Rick Maese, “Pain and pain management in NFL spawn a culture of prescription drug use and abuse,” Washington Post, April 13, 2013.
In 2013, security officials in Bolivia reported on an increase in homicides and targeted assassinations in the country. Officials attribute the rise in contract killings due to increase drug trafficking by organized crime syndicates. Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of coca.
The New York Times reported that one man and his two sons paid a hitman $15,000 to kill his ex-wife. In a separate incident, a wife paid $4,000 to have her husband killed by a professional assassin.
In the first 4 months of 2013, there were 16 killings in Bolivia that appear to have been targeted killings.
Source: William Neuman, “Video of Killing Crystallizes Bolivian Anger Over Crime,” New York Times, May 2, 2013.
In Northern Mali, a cigarette smuggler is paid $200 (100,000- CFA Francs) for a single trip transporting tobacco across the Sahara Desert. If the same smuggler is transporting cocaine, then the smuggler would be paid $2,000.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that up to 18 tonnes of cocaine is smuggled through West Africa on its way to Europe. The cocaine has a street value of $1.25 Billion.
(See the price of cocaine per gram worldwide.)
Source: Afua Hirsch, “Cocaine flows through Sahara as al-Qaida cashes in on lawlessness,” Guardian, May 2, 2013.
