Two major LSD factories were operating in the UK supplying a worldwide market under the noses of the police, until a DI from Thames Valley drug squad became curious. What happened next helped revolutionised the policing of drugs. Operation Julie:…
Tag Archive for production
Druglink article 2010 – Plant kingdom by Vanda Felbab-Brown
The latest military offensive in Helmand is being accompanied by a new strategy in the battle to win the hearts and minds of Afghans: a step away from wholesale poppy eradication. Vanda Felbab-Brown reports on why this controversial experiment is the most likely route…
Druglink article 2010 – World wired web by Mike Power
The powerful legal stimulant, mephedrone, has opened the door to a seemingly unstoppable virtual drugs market. Mike Power, the first journalist to report on mephedrone in Druglink last March, tracks its journey from Chinese labs to Britain’s streets. In May 2004, on an…
Druglink article 2011 – The opium cables by Adrian Gatton
How Druglink used Wikileaks to reveal the secret story of heroin’s journey from Afghanistan to the UK. Dispatch 09DUSHANBE569: Dushanbe, a pleasant enough neo-classical city in Tajikistan, bordering Afghanistan. A mobile phone number belonging to a man known as ‘The Doctor’. Further research reveals his real…
Druglink article 2011 – Politics of the poppy by Harry Shapiro and David Guttenfelder
As the Western powers prepare to leave Afghanistan, informed opinion concludes that the ten year war against opium growing has been an expensive failure. Politics of the poppy (PDF)
Druglink article 2011 – Crystal crescent by Matthew C. DuPée
Matthew C. DuPée on the spread of the methamphetamine trade in south west Asia. As the 21st century unfolds, Afghanistan finds itself in a profound socio-economic crisis. It is one in which the illegal drug trade and insurgency plays a very complex and important role. According…
Druglink article 2012 – Birth of the Narco-state by Andrew Craig
In Ghana, greater self-sufficiency, improvements in health care and a reduction in poverty have all contributed to its stability over the last 20 years. However, the result of the national election to be held in December 2012 has the potential to destroy these…
Druglink article 2012 – Weeding out the dope by Harry Shapiro
It’s five years since Druglink last covered the phenomenon of cannabis farms, during which time the national picture has changed considerably and in the process put police resources under considerable strain. Weeding out the dope (PDF)
Druglink article 2012 – Moroccan ‘roll by Adrian Gaton
There are official claims that Morocco’s days as a leading exporter of hashish are over. But do such claims stand up to scrutiny? Moroccan ‘roll (PDF)
Druglink article 2012 – Food for thought by Andrew Craig
Although khat has been used in Ethiopia for centuries, Andrew Craig argues that the rising demand for khat globally from the Horn of Africa diaspora is blighting the famine ravaged region. Food for thought (PDF)