Information Related to "An Overview of Conditions Around the World - Jan/Feb 1997"
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by Scott Ashley and John Ross Schroeder
Illegal-drug trade builds worldwide economic powerhouse
The trade in illegal drugs has grown to a $500 billion annual business, according to a report by Freedom House tracking the meteoric rise of the trade. The market in cocaine, marijuana, hashish, heroin, opiates and other mind-altering substances accounts for 10 to 13 percent of global commerce, an amount equal to the world market in crude petroleum.
The influence of drug money has led to the rise of "narco states" in South America, so called because of the predominance of corruption on virtually all levels of government. Some Caribbean islands are, in essence, drug fiefdoms that are nothing more than huge financial laundering operations. Drugs are now produced in at least 31 nations, with drug money laundered in 33 countries.
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