Drugs turnover in Armenia reaches over $1 billion. - opposition MP claims

YEREVAN, May 18. /ARKA/. An opposition member of the Armenian parliament accused today the authorities of sponsoring drug trafficking.

Andranik Tevanyan from the Hayastan alliance, argued that the drug turnover in Armenia has reached about 4 tons, which is worth over $1 billion. According to him, such turnover would be impossible without the patronage of the authorities.

On Wednesday, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said it had discovered and seized one ton of cocaine estimated to cost $250 million.

The cocaine was found in containers with fruits imported by an Armenia-registered company from Ecuador. The cargo arrived through Panama, Italy and Georgia.

A day earlier, financial officers in the Italian province of Reggio Calabria and officials from the local Customs Office discovered two tons and 734 kilograms of pure cocaine (estimated at $800 million euros) in two containers from Guayaquil, Ecuador, destined for Armenia via the port of Batumi, Georgia.

According to Italian news outlet ansa.it, the cocaine was concealed in two fruit cargo containers with 78 tons of bananas.

According to the Office of Prosecutor General, in 2022 the number of crimes involving illegal drug circulation rose by 76.3% to 1,717 cases (985 of them in Yerevan) against 974 a year earlier.

The number of cases of illegal drug sales increased by 94.9% to 1,031 against 529 in 2021. The rate of detection of this type of crime decreased nationwide to 37.9% from 59.1% a year earlier.

Compared to 2021, the trafficking of especially dangerous synthetic drugs such as methamphetamine, α-PVP, MDMA, LSD and mephedrone has increased , especially via telecommunication systems and social networks, particularly Telegram. --0-