// BORDERS, MIGRATION AND REFUGEES: BORDER SECURITY
A global response to drug trafficking
Transnational organised crime networks are using the latest technology to produce and traffic ever more potent synthetic drugs. Countering this deadly trade requires urgent cross-border collaboration, knowledge sharing and investment in prevention – areas where G7 leadership can make a difference Ghada Waly, executive director, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
G lobal drug threats to health and security are becoming broader in reach and more unpredictable in nature, driven in large part by the pernicious evolution of synthetic drugs and the growing power and sophistication financial capacities, the G7 can exercise the global leadership that is needed in the face of this dynamic and border-defying challenge. of transnational organised crime. With its political, technical and AN EXPANDING ILLICIT DRUG MARKET Synthetic drugs are shortening supply chains and reducing risks for traffickers. Production labs can be set up cheaply and quickly almost anywhere, using easily available chemicals. Small but potent – and sometimes lethal – pills are easy to conceal and smuggle across borders. Around the world, the numbers reflect this booming business. Record seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants and pharmaceutical opioids have been registered globally for several years running. Captagon continues to plague the Middle East – seizures in Iraq alone increased by almost 3,380% from 2019 to 2023. Fentanyl remains an immense challenge in North America.
1,300 + New psychoactive substances reported to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
74 // G7 CANADA: THE KANANASKIS SUMMIT 2025
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