Washington Academy

Model Of United Nations

XII

2016

EDITION

United Nations Office

of Drugs and Crime
Delegate Manual

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

INTRODUCTION

Delegates, please have a warm welcome to the United

Nations Office of Drugs and Crime Committee. My name is
Santiago Illarramendi and I will be your chair this year on the
twelfth edition of WAMUN, accompanied by Laura Daz as your
Co-Chair and Andrea Veloz as your Secretary. I have been a part
of WAMUN for the last 4 years, working my way up from admin
staff to chair, and I have also participated on a few other MUNs
outside of my school. I hope that you find the topics dealt with in
this booklet as interesting as we did, and also be able to research
them extensively, so that you can be actively involved into
creating a fluid debate this November.
The UNODC is a United Nations office that was established in
1997 and belongs to the United Nation Development Group.
This agency has its headquarters in Vienna and with the help of
500 staff members and 20 field offices worldwide, it focuses on the
fight against illicit drugs and international crime, as well as
implementing the United Nations lead programme on terrorism.
While the information provided by this booklet will work as a
good background for both topics, we encourage all delegates to
conduct research on their own so that we are able to make the
most of our 2 days of debate. Remember that the knowledge of
your topics will be key towards becoming a distinctive delegate in
the committee. We will see each other soon and if any doubts
come
up,
feel
free
to
contact
us
through:
santi.illarramendi@gmail.com or logisticstaff2016@gmail.com.
Sincerely,
Santiago Illarramendi
Chair, United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

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United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

TOPIC A: The concerning increase in crime rates in
countries located in Central America due to drug
trafficking, and its possible links to governmental
corruption in these countries.

While evaluating the concerning increase of crime rates in

countries in Central America, due to drug trafficking and possible
links in governmental corruption, we find that such countries have
many points of vulnerability that may put this issues as one of the
main concerns these countries might be facing today. We can also
note that this has been a recurring topic present in Central
American societies for several decades.
One of the most relevant vulnerabilities is Central America's
geographical position. The portion of land Central America
represents is left in the middle of the drug trade way. According to
a UNODC report from May 2007 "Central America is ()
believed to be the transit zone through which 88% of the cocaine
headed for the United States passes." Being so, the impact that
drug trade has in these societies is considered to be very relevant.
Although underdevelopment is not a direct cause of crime, it
is considered to be a huge factor that may trigger it. Many
Central American citizens may have no job opportunities and
those opportunities that may seem more accessible to them can
sometimes be linked to the drug trade business. Studies show that
in Central America crime rates are higher among the population
of young men, who possibly left school and by consequence are
unemployed.
In addition, the weak economies of these countries as well as
their small budgets are not sufficient to sustain the law
enforcement and criminal capacities needed to deal with the
multimillion business that is drug trading, and for providing
officers and prosecutors with good incomes. This being the case,
with a low payment the security forces are deficient. Furthermore,
their correctional systems are often inefficient and sometimes not
properly equipped to keep big numbers of criminals locked away,
causing many of those who should be imprisoned not to be

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United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

properly prosecuted and sentenced to their corresponding time in

prison.
All of the countries of the region have been affected by
conflict since long ago, including full-scale civil wars in Guatemala
(1960-1996), El Salvador (1980-1992), and Nicaragua (19721991), and the authoritarian response to insurgent uprisings. The
impact of this violence is profound, and the repercussions are
manifest today. Terror tactics were used in a number of conflicts
in the region, including public massacres of civilians, use of
disappearances and death squads, torture, and mass rape.
The UN has tried to face these problems, for example by
organizing in meetings such as the United Nations Convention
against Corruption, where key points regarding prevention,
criminalization, international cooperation and asset recovery were
discussed in order to face organized crime often linked to corrupt
governments in developing countries. However, several
translation criminal organizations such as the Sinaloa Cartel, the
Gulf Cartel, the Zetas, and the Urabeos continue to operate in
Central America. In the middle of the continent, these
organizations oversee the transportation of the product they have
produced from raw material coming from Colombia and Peru.
The activities controlled by drug cartels are usually performed by
family groups with long criminal histories such as the Cachiros, a
Honduran based organizations that started as cattle rustlers who
sold stolen cattle and whose role in illicit drug trafficking grew
progressively. The main issue with such organizations is that for
them money is not only economic capital; it is political and social
capital as well. Income from transport networks go to many
legitimate and illegitimate businesses that provide jobs for big part
of the community and work as a key motor of the economy in
Central American countries. They are also linked with public
figures, since sometimes political parties and candidates are
funded by these organizations, as well as social functions, church
events, and soccer clubs, turning certain criminal groups into
untouchable and protected organizations both by the community
and public figures.

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United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

Washington Academy Model of United Nations

United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

For more information, please visit:

https://www.unodc.org
https://www.unodc.org/pdf/research/Central_America_Stud
y_2007.pdf
http://www.un.org/press/en/2010/gashc3975.doc.htm
https://www.cia.gov/
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drugtrafficking/index.html
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organizedcrime/index.html

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United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

TOPIC B: The concerning levels of heroin use in Russia,

and the development of new synthetic more lethal drugs
such as Krokodil, and how to prevent its spread
worldwide.
The Russian Federation had significant changes in overall
drug trends in 2006. The amount of heroin seizures duplicated
itself and the increase of other drugs such as cocaine increased in
almost six times. Since then there has being a huge concern in
terms of law Enforcement in this department. Drug trafficking
remains one of the most profitable criminal activities, 15.9% of
Russias young population was prosecuted for drug related crimes.
These networks have grown stronger with time and are increasing
their geographical coverage.
The UN has actively worked to fight drug trafficking and
organized crime and create legal bases to help countries that
suffer from these problems to fight them. One of the most relevant
works produced by the UN regarding these international
problems is the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic
in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances of 1988, which
purpose is to codify internationally applicable control measures
in order to ensure the availability of narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances for medical and scientific purposes, and
to prevent their diversion into illicit channels (UNODC). In a
similar effort to combat drug trafficking, The Russian law
enforcement agencies continue to improve their capabilities in
order to combat organized crime. Changes made to the 1996
Criminal Code were introduced in 2006; these changes emphasize
the pursuit of drug traffickers rather than drug users. Russia also
developed a Federal targeted programme to counter drug abuse.
Furthermore, the lack of coordination between law enforcement
and social agencies, and the lack of approaches, especially to drug
demand reduction, treatment and rehabilitation, still needs to be
addressed. Finally, drug trafficking is a common interest and
requires regional cooperation to address the major global problem
studied in this topic.

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With the rise of Krokodil as a fairly new drug that has

appeared in Russia since 2002, a new standard has been set for
fast destruction of mind, spirit and body. In 2013 reports of its use
began cropping up in the U.S. The medical name for the drug is
desomorphine. It is made at home by acquiring codeine, sold over
the counter for headaches, and cooking it with paint thinner,
gasoline, hydrochloric acid, iodine and the red phosphorous from
matchbox strike pads. The resulting liquid is injected into a vein.
The high from this drug lasts from 90 minutes to two hours, and it
takes about a half-hour to make the drug. So a Krokodil addict
does little other than get the ingredients and cook up the drug.
Krokodil gets its name from the fact that the caustic drug causes
an addicts skin to become green, scaly and bumpy like a
crocodiles. If the drug misses a vein and is injected into flesh, that
flesh will develop abscesses. It is common for addicts to develop
gangrene and require amputations. The flesh on some body parts
affected by Krokodil injections will rot off completely, leaving
bare bone.
Russia has a severe problem with heroin addiction, but
when a heroin addict can no longer afford that drug, he/she can
make up Krokodil that has a stronger kick and costs about a tenth
the price. But while the life expectancy of a Moscow heroin addict
is four to seven years, the life expectancy of a Krokodil addict is
just a year or two.
It is estimated that somewhere between a few hundred
thousand and a million people are injecting this deadly drug.
Between 2009 and 2011, the amount of Krokodil seized by law
enforcement increased 23 times. In just the first three months of
2011, 65 million doses were seized.
While withdrawal from heroin can cause sickness and pain
for up to ten days, withdrawal from Krokodil can result in a
month of unbearable pain. Extremely strong tranquilizers are
used during withdrawal so the addict does not pass out from the
pain. If a person does manage to get clean from Krokodil, they
may be left with permanent damage like a speech impediment,
vacant gaze and erratic movements. Therefore, fast action is

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United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

needed to prevent the international spreading of this devastating

drug.

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United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

For more information, please visit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsUH8llvTZo
(WARNING: contains sensible imagery)
http://time.com/3398086/the-worlds-deadliest-drug-inside-akrokodil-cookhouse/ (WARNING: video in this website
contains sensible imagery)
https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/russia-must-step-upand-fight-its-drug-problem-47822
http://rehab-international.org/drug-addiction/issues-drugabuse-russia

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