Drug trafficking in Russia and in the world during the pandemic COVID-19

Abstract

The article is devoted to the consideration and analysis of the main changes in the global and domestic drug business during the spread of coronavirus infection. A review of data from the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, documents of the state anti-drug committee of the Russian Federation, statistical materials of law enforcement agencies and the main department for combating smuggling of the Federal Customs Service of the Russian Federation is presented. It is considered how the pandemic and the temporary closure of borders have affected the main drug markets, the usual routes for the delivery of drugs from country to country and the structure of drugs, and the international import of drugs into Russia. It is shown that criminal drug groups have proved to be quite resistant to the changes associated with COVID-19, and quickly formed new strategies for the sale of drugs aimed at overcoming the obstacles that have arisen. A comparison is made of the involvement of some countries in the international drug trade. An analysis of the dynamics of drug crime in Russia showed that against the backdrop of a general decrease in drug trafficking crimes over the past few years, there are a number of negative trends that have worsened with the onset of the spread of coronavirus infection in Russia. A significant increase in the role of the Internet and social networks in drug trafficking during the pandemic has been revealed. It is shown that, despite the positive trend of recent years to reduce various indicators of drug addiction, the pandemic has created new conditions for a possible explosive growth of drug problems in the near future.