Drug Trafficking Laws in South Asian Countries: Problems and Perspectives

Abstract

The global issue of Drug Trafficking has raised major concerns to the International and National communities to handle in the recent years. It is the most debatable and challenging problem faced by almost all the countries of the world. The problem has been multiplying due to various factors and significantly because it is lucrative for the criminals. It has posed challenges for the countries and its enforcement machineries owing to its dynamic nature.

At the International level, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has been involved in helping the Nations to remain safe from drugs through its normative and facilitative actions. It has established Field Offices in Europe, Asia, Africa, Middle East, Latin America, Caribbean and the Pacific to tackle the problem and coordinate with the Governments to initiate necessary actions. Apart from this, at the Domestic levels too, Nations have established their own mechanisms to deal with the issue.

In context to Asia, the name Golden Crescent has been given representing principal areas of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan as illicit opium production countries and Golden Triangle as certain south-eastern Asian Countries as one the largest Opium producing areas of the world. Due to the illicit production of drugs and its consequent illicit trade some of the Asian countries are affected the most. For the purpose of the present paper, the Author has taken into consideration countries like Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka as South Asian Countries. The present paper identifies the Drug policies of selected countries, their existing enforcement mechanism and the current problems and perspectives in context of transnational drug trafficking. The paper also discusses the International Law on controlling of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances and the challenges thereto.