Abstract
In Afghanistan, clandestine methamphetamine manufacture has emerged, supplementing the opiate economy and contributing to the global expansion of the illicit synthetic drug market. Apart from the manufacture of crystalline methamphetamine, an illicit market for synthetic drug tablets has developed in the country. Based on forensic analysis of over 500 samples in tablet form, this Global SMART Update sheds light on a drug product sold under the street name of ‘tablet K’ in Afghanistan. Three different types of ‘tablet K’ were identified based on their content: a methamphetamine type, a type containing methamphetamine as well as opioids and a type containing mainly MDMA. The presence of an illicit drug product in tablet form that contains both methamphetamine and opioids has implications for the understanding of drug use and supply in Afghanistan and beyond.
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North America (mainly the United States and Mexico) and East and South-East Asia remain the two main regional hubs for methamphetamine trafficking. However, in recent years, methamphetamine trafficking has expanded to other regions. Increasing amounts have been seized in the Near and Middle East, South-West Asia, and South Asia, as well as in Western and Central Europe, where methamphetamine manufacture for export has been emerging in recent years. The expansion of the illicit methamphetamine market, particularly the increased availability of crystalline methamphetamine is associated with higher health risks for users, and has led to more severe negative health implications, growing demand for treatment and more methamphetamine-related deaths in some countries.
Afghanistan and the global methamphetamine market
Over the past five years, the evidence of an emerging methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan has become more definitive, with clandestine laboratories in the country’s western and southern provinces and rising seizures of amounts in and around Afghanistan being reported. Annual seizure amounts of methamphetamine in Afghanistan rose from 0.03 kg in 2012 to more than 1.2 tons in 2019 and 2020. Over the three-month period from March to May 2021, the amount of 1,358 kg methamphetamine seized surpassed already the total annual amounts of all previous Solar Hijri years. This development has implications much beyond Afghanistan itself. In 2019, the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that methamphetamine originating in Afghanistan accounted for almost 90 per cent of all methamphetamine on the Iranian market. Combined seizures of methamphetamine and opiates in Iran suggest that pre-existing opiate trafficking routes might be exploited for Afghan methamphetamine as well, using a similar modus operandi. Since 2019, methamphetamine originating in Afghanistan has been seized in at least 11 different countries in Asia, Europe, and Oceania, targeting high-price markets such as Australia as well as new markets in Africa, which traffickers might consider as having a large growth potential because of their young, growing population and existing stimulant drug use. Combined heroin-methamphetamine shipments seized along the East African coast and larger methamphetamine shipments originating in South-West Asia seized in South-East Asia and Australia support this assumption.
Some reports suggested that ephedrine, extracted from ephedra plants growing in the mountains of Afghanistan, may have contributed to an expansion of methamphetamine manufacture by complementing and, at least partially, replacing the manufacture of methamphetamine from ephedrine extracted from pharmaceuticals. However, precursor production from ephedra plant material faces ecological (re-growth potential), seasonal (hard winters) and geographic (mountainous terrain) limitations and may not be practicable for large-scale methamphetamine manufacture, at least not if used as the main or only source. Indeed, new evidence presented further below indicates the continuing importance of pharmaceutical ephedrine for the manufacture of methamphetamine in Afghanistan.
What is ‘tablet K’?
Scientific information about the composition of these tablets was not available until the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) laboratory in Kabul, Afghanistan, qualitatively analyzed 536 samples of seized ’tablet K’ pills between September 2020 and March 2021. ’Tablet K’ resembles “ecstasy” tablets in terms of appearance: they are available in a wide range of colours and shapes, and often carry the logos of well-known brands. The analysis was conducted in the framework of a forensic capacity building programme of UNODC and provides a unique insight into an emerging market for synthetic drug tablets in Afghanistan. Tablets have been sold on the domestic drug market under the street name ‘tablet K’ since at least 2016 and were reported to contain different substances such as methamphetamine or MDMA. More than 40 kg of ‘tablet K’ were seized in each of the Solar Hijri years 1397 (March 2018 - March 2019) and 1398 (March 2019 - March 2020), increasing to 80 kg seized during the Solar Hijri year 1399 (March 2020 - 2021).
Which types of ‘tablet K’ are on the market?
Three main drugs under international control were identified in ‘tablet K’, namely MDMA, methamphetamine and heroin. They were used to group the analysed ‘tablet K’ samples into three types:
Just under a quarter of all samples (125 or 23 per cent) contained MDMA and no methamphetamine or heroin. Almost all of these “ecstasy” type ‘tablet Ks’ contained MDMA as the only psychoactive substance. Only one tablet contained MDMA plus methamphetamine. As synthesis of MDMA has not been reported in Afghanistan, it is likely that the MDMA present in these tablets was imported into Afghanistan in powder or tablet form. The presumably imported, “ecstasy”-type ‘tablet K’ might relate to category A, the highest of four price categories of tablet K’ categories of the drug price monitoring system in Afghanistan. With US$ 15 to US$16 per tablet, prices for category A ‘tablet Ks’ were consistently higher than other price types, with about double the price of type B and C and four times the price of type D. It is not inconceivable that “ecstasy” tablets imported from Europe would be sold at category A price levels in Afghanistan as, for example, in 2019, retail prices of “ecstasy” tablets in European Union countries ranged between €5 and €14 per tablet.
Methamphetamine in ‘tablet K’
Almost three quarters of the samples (398 or 74 per cent) analysed in the laboratory contained methamphetamine, often in combination with caffeine (in 199 or 50 per cent of samples), a common adulterant in illicitly produced tablets with stimulant effect, as well as a range of pharmaceuticals commonly found for example in cold medication, such as antihistamines (in 127 or 32 per cent of samples) and / or dextromethorphan (in 74 or 19 per cent of samples).
Opioids in ‘tablet K’
Opioids are depressants, i.e., they are working in the “opposite” direction compared to drugs with stimulant effect such as amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA. Illicitly produced tablets with stimulant effects available in South-East Asia, for example the methamphetamine tablets known as ‘yaba’, and the amphetamine tablets sold as “captagon” in the Near and Middle East, consequently, do not usually contain opioids. In view of this, the identification of opioids in a large number of ‘tablet K’ samples was unexpected. Heroin-related substances were identified in one third (132 or 33 per cent) of samples containing methamphetamine, and tramadol in 67 or 17 per cent of samples. A considerable number of samples contained heroin-related substances as well as tramadol.
Potential precursors for methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan
Until recently, the only drugs known to be produced illicitly in Afghanistan were derived from agricultural plants, namely opium poppy (opium, morphine, heroin) and cannabis (cannabis resin). One of the simplest ways of manufacturing methamphetamine is starting from ephedrine or pseudoephedrine (henceforth: ephedrines). The transformation of ephedrines into methamphetamine is essentially a one-step process which can be performed with limited chemical knowledge. This synthesis route has the additional advantage that it directly yields so-called d-methamphetamine, the more potent of the two methamphetamine isomers. Indeed, the available information points to ephedrines as main precursor chemicals of methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan, which can potentially stem from three main sources:
The available information indicates that all these sources play a role. Of the methamphetamine-type ‘tablet K’ samples analysed, 46 per cent (185 samples) contained one or more pharmaceuticals also found in cold medication, whose formulation contains ephedrines, and could therefore be used as a precursor source. Indeed, almost all the combinations of pharmaceuticals found in ‘tablet K’ samples could be linked to preparations licensed for sale in Afghanistan and / or Pakistan. Thus, it is highly likely that ephedrines extracted from cold medication play a role as precursors in the manufacture of methamphetamine in Afghanistan.
Is ephedra plant material the main source of precursors?
Dimethylamphetamine is a likely by-product found in methamphetamine products, for which plant-based ephedrines were used. It was only identified in 8 samples, or 2 per cent of all samples containing methamphetamine. It cannot be excluded that dimethylamphetamine was present in a larger number of samples, but in amounts below the level of detection of the analytical method used. However, in the dataset used for this analysis, ephedrines extracted from pharmaceutical preparations and / or bulk pharmaceutical ephedrine seem to play a more prominent role. The dataset used in this analysis did not reveal evidence of the use of other precursors than ephedrines, such as P2P.
In Afghanistan, clandestine methamphetamine manufacture has emerged, supplementing the opiate economy and contributing to the global expansion of the illicit synthetic drug market. Apart from the manufacture of crystalline methamphetamine, an illicit market for synthetic drug tablets has developed in the country. Based on forensic analysis of over 500 samples in tablet form, this Global SMART Update sheds light on a drug product sold under the street name of ‘tablet K’ in Afghanistan. Three different types of ‘tablet K’ were identified based on their content: a methamphetamine type, a type containing methamphetamine as well as opioids and a type containing mainly MDMA. The presence of an illicit drug product in tablet form that contains both methamphetamine and opioids has implications for the understanding of drug use and supply in Afghanistan and beyond.
INTRODUCTION
Methamphetamine dominates the amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) market, accounting for 72 per cent of the total quantity of ATS seized, globally. In the period 2015-2019, more than 95 per cent of the clandestine ATS laboratories detected or dismantled worldwide manufactured methamphetamine. Global methamphetamine seizures more than doubled from 141 tons in 2015 to 325 tons in 2019, which, together with falling retail prices and high purity levels, points to a dynamic and expanding illicit market for the drug.North America (mainly the United States and Mexico) and East and South-East Asia remain the two main regional hubs for methamphetamine trafficking. However, in recent years, methamphetamine trafficking has expanded to other regions. Increasing amounts have been seized in the Near and Middle East, South-West Asia, and South Asia, as well as in Western and Central Europe, where methamphetamine manufacture for export has been emerging in recent years. The expansion of the illicit methamphetamine market, particularly the increased availability of crystalline methamphetamine is associated with higher health risks for users, and has led to more severe negative health implications, growing demand for treatment and more methamphetamine-related deaths in some countries.
Afghanistan and the global methamphetamine market
Over the past five years, the evidence of an emerging methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan has become more definitive, with clandestine laboratories in the country’s western and southern provinces and rising seizures of amounts in and around Afghanistan being reported. Annual seizure amounts of methamphetamine in Afghanistan rose from 0.03 kg in 2012 to more than 1.2 tons in 2019 and 2020. Over the three-month period from March to May 2021, the amount of 1,358 kg methamphetamine seized surpassed already the total annual amounts of all previous Solar Hijri years. This development has implications much beyond Afghanistan itself. In 2019, the Islamic Republic of Iran reported that methamphetamine originating in Afghanistan accounted for almost 90 per cent of all methamphetamine on the Iranian market. Combined seizures of methamphetamine and opiates in Iran suggest that pre-existing opiate trafficking routes might be exploited for Afghan methamphetamine as well, using a similar modus operandi. Since 2019, methamphetamine originating in Afghanistan has been seized in at least 11 different countries in Asia, Europe, and Oceania, targeting high-price markets such as Australia as well as new markets in Africa, which traffickers might consider as having a large growth potential because of their young, growing population and existing stimulant drug use. Combined heroin-methamphetamine shipments seized along the East African coast and larger methamphetamine shipments originating in South-West Asia seized in South-East Asia and Australia support this assumption.
Some reports suggested that ephedrine, extracted from ephedra plants growing in the mountains of Afghanistan, may have contributed to an expansion of methamphetamine manufacture by complementing and, at least partially, replacing the manufacture of methamphetamine from ephedrine extracted from pharmaceuticals. However, precursor production from ephedra plant material faces ecological (re-growth potential), seasonal (hard winters) and geographic (mountainous terrain) limitations and may not be practicable for large-scale methamphetamine manufacture, at least not if used as the main or only source. Indeed, new evidence presented further below indicates the continuing importance of pharmaceutical ephedrine for the manufacture of methamphetamine in Afghanistan.
What is ‘tablet K’?
Scientific information about the composition of these tablets was not available until the Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) laboratory in Kabul, Afghanistan, qualitatively analyzed 536 samples of seized ’tablet K’ pills between September 2020 and March 2021. ’Tablet K’ resembles “ecstasy” tablets in terms of appearance: they are available in a wide range of colours and shapes, and often carry the logos of well-known brands. The analysis was conducted in the framework of a forensic capacity building programme of UNODC and provides a unique insight into an emerging market for synthetic drug tablets in Afghanistan. Tablets have been sold on the domestic drug market under the street name ‘tablet K’ since at least 2016 and were reported to contain different substances such as methamphetamine or MDMA. More than 40 kg of ‘tablet K’ were seized in each of the Solar Hijri years 1397 (March 2018 - March 2019) and 1398 (March 2019 - March 2020), increasing to 80 kg seized during the Solar Hijri year 1399 (March 2020 - 2021).
Which types of ‘tablet K’ are on the market?
Three main drugs under international control were identified in ‘tablet K’, namely MDMA, methamphetamine and heroin. They were used to group the analysed ‘tablet K’ samples into three types:
- an “ecstasy” type (containing MDMA and no methamphetamine or opioids),
- a methamphetamine type (containing no MDMA or opioids), and
- a type containing methamphetamine plus opioid(s)
Just under a quarter of all samples (125 or 23 per cent) contained MDMA and no methamphetamine or heroin. Almost all of these “ecstasy” type ‘tablet Ks’ contained MDMA as the only psychoactive substance. Only one tablet contained MDMA plus methamphetamine. As synthesis of MDMA has not been reported in Afghanistan, it is likely that the MDMA present in these tablets was imported into Afghanistan in powder or tablet form. The presumably imported, “ecstasy”-type ‘tablet K’ might relate to category A, the highest of four price categories of tablet K’ categories of the drug price monitoring system in Afghanistan. With US$ 15 to US$16 per tablet, prices for category A ‘tablet Ks’ were consistently higher than other price types, with about double the price of type B and C and four times the price of type D. It is not inconceivable that “ecstasy” tablets imported from Europe would be sold at category A price levels in Afghanistan as, for example, in 2019, retail prices of “ecstasy” tablets in European Union countries ranged between €5 and €14 per tablet.
Methamphetamine in ‘tablet K’
Almost three quarters of the samples (398 or 74 per cent) analysed in the laboratory contained methamphetamine, often in combination with caffeine (in 199 or 50 per cent of samples), a common adulterant in illicitly produced tablets with stimulant effect, as well as a range of pharmaceuticals commonly found for example in cold medication, such as antihistamines (in 127 or 32 per cent of samples) and / or dextromethorphan (in 74 or 19 per cent of samples).
Opioids in ‘tablet K’
Opioids are depressants, i.e., they are working in the “opposite” direction compared to drugs with stimulant effect such as amphetamine, methamphetamine and MDMA. Illicitly produced tablets with stimulant effects available in South-East Asia, for example the methamphetamine tablets known as ‘yaba’, and the amphetamine tablets sold as “captagon” in the Near and Middle East, consequently, do not usually contain opioids. In view of this, the identification of opioids in a large number of ‘tablet K’ samples was unexpected. Heroin-related substances were identified in one third (132 or 33 per cent) of samples containing methamphetamine, and tramadol in 67 or 17 per cent of samples. A considerable number of samples contained heroin-related substances as well as tramadol.
Potential precursors for methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan
Until recently, the only drugs known to be produced illicitly in Afghanistan were derived from agricultural plants, namely opium poppy (opium, morphine, heroin) and cannabis (cannabis resin). One of the simplest ways of manufacturing methamphetamine is starting from ephedrine or pseudoephedrine (henceforth: ephedrines). The transformation of ephedrines into methamphetamine is essentially a one-step process which can be performed with limited chemical knowledge. This synthesis route has the additional advantage that it directly yields so-called d-methamphetamine, the more potent of the two methamphetamine isomers. Indeed, the available information points to ephedrines as main precursor chemicals of methamphetamine manufacture in Afghanistan, which can potentially stem from three main sources:
- Bulk ephedrines from pharmaceutical industry, imported into Afghanistan and diverted, there, or smuggled into the country, circumventing the official licensing system: Likely, during the synthesis, practically the complete number of ephedrines would be converted into methamphetamine leaving only trace amounts, if any, in the final product. In 2020, Afghanistan reported licit requirements of 350 kg of (pseudo)ephedrine and 400 kg of preparations containing (pseudo)-ephedrine to International Narcotics Control Board (INCB). Comparing these amounts with recent methamphetamine seizures of over 1 ton per year, it seems unlikely that ephedrines diverted within the country play a major role, whereas ephedrines smuggled into the country would be a plausible option.
- Ephedrines extracted from pharmaceutical products such as cold medication: As cold medications are often combination products containing, for example, antipyretics such as paracetamol, antihistamines, and cough-suppressants (e.g. dextromethorphan), at least trace amounts of these ingredients are likely to be present in the final product.
- Ephedrines extracted from plant material: Ephedrine derives its name from the ephedra plant. Several ephedra species occur naturally in the mountains of Afghanistan, typically as a scrub, and in many other parts of the world. Plant material contains a large number of different substances, and their traces or traces of their synthesis products would be identifiable in the final product as impurities.
The available information indicates that all these sources play a role. Of the methamphetamine-type ‘tablet K’ samples analysed, 46 per cent (185 samples) contained one or more pharmaceuticals also found in cold medication, whose formulation contains ephedrines, and could therefore be used as a precursor source. Indeed, almost all the combinations of pharmaceuticals found in ‘tablet K’ samples could be linked to preparations licensed for sale in Afghanistan and / or Pakistan. Thus, it is highly likely that ephedrines extracted from cold medication play a role as precursors in the manufacture of methamphetamine in Afghanistan.
Is ephedra plant material the main source of precursors?
Dimethylamphetamine is a likely by-product found in methamphetamine products, for which plant-based ephedrines were used. It was only identified in 8 samples, or 2 per cent of all samples containing methamphetamine. It cannot be excluded that dimethylamphetamine was present in a larger number of samples, but in amounts below the level of detection of the analytical method used. However, in the dataset used for this analysis, ephedrines extracted from pharmaceutical preparations and / or bulk pharmaceutical ephedrine seem to play a more prominent role. The dataset used in this analysis did not reveal evidence of the use of other precursors than ephedrines, such as P2P.
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