By Danielle Martin, Express TT

Some $3.68 billion from the illicit drug industry passed though the Caribbean last year.

This was revealed yesterday at the launch of the 2002 Annual Report of the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the Caribbean Drug Trend Report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Flavio Mirella, Representative, UNODC, speaking at the UN Information Centre, Bretton Hall, Port of Spain, has warned that the idea that illicit drug production promotes the economic development of a country is just a myth.

"Comparative analysis of drug data shows a negative correlation between drug production and the economic viability of a nation. In fact, 99 per cent of drug earnings do not remain in the country, two- thirds go to developed nations," stated Mirella.

He said, the total income generated in the Caribbean from the illicit drug industry in 2002 was $3.68 billion, which fits within the INCB parameters of the total $12 billion to $13 billion being made in developing countries by the transshipment of cocaine and heroin.

Mirella interestingly remarked on the decline in drug use in the USA.

"Although cocaine use in the USA has decreased by two-thirds from 1989 to 2001, cocaine exports transshipped through the Caribbean to the US market rose from 29 per cent in 1980 to 48 per cent in 2001. However, Mexico alone accounted for 45 per cent of the cocaine entering America," divulged Mirella.

He added: "Cocaine seizures prove that the Caribbean is a high intensity trafficking area," he said.

He said too that Caribbean marijuana was being displaced from the export markets in the US, Canada and UK by high quality local production, both indoors and outdoors.

Mirella lauded the nation's Alcohol and Drug Prevention programmes and commended the expansion of the legal framework but felt that it needed to be consolidated.

"The law enforcement was well developed and co-ordinated," said Mirella.

A situation which definitely pleased Minister of National Security Howard Chin Lee who highlighted the fact that this country had taken specific measures to address the "escalating drug menace and its related crime activities".

However, unlike the view taken by Mirella, the Minister felt the rise in the drug trade was linked to its very lucrative nature.

During 2000, the street value of marijuana and cocaine seized by local enforcement agencies amounted to over $74 million and to just over $500 million in 2002.

The Minister spoke about the government's anti-drug plan, the Dangerous Drug (Amendment) Act 2000, the operational state of the Coast Guard vessels which now ensure a 24-hour vigil, all designed to eliminate the drug trade.