The United Nations Support Mission in Libya has underscored the need for stronger regional cooperation in the face of a rapidly expanding synthetic drug market.
The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) called for enhanced data sharing and regional cooperation to address the growth of synthetic drug trafficking across the Arab region, at a high-level
meeting held on the sidelines of the 69th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
The gathering brought together representatives from international organizations and regional partners, including the Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General and Resident Coordinator in Libya, Ulrika Richardson.
The event was jointly organised by Naif Arab University for Security Sciences and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The discussions centred on the rapid expansion of the synthetic drug market across the region, a phenomenon drawing growing attention from international institutions given its security and social implications.
In her remarks, Ulrika Richardson said that drug trafficking has now moved well beyond the strictly criminal sphere to become a broader challenge for security and development, noting that organised crime
networks are operating with increasing reach across national borders.
She added that these criminal networks are also tending to intersect with other illicit economies, exploiting fragile contexts and contributing to the spread of informal circuits that can fuel instability.
The UN official stressed the importance of stepped-up regional cooperation — particularly through information exchange and data sharing among relevant institutions — to strengthen prevention and response capacities in the face of drug trafficking.
Synthetic drug markets are indeed expanding across several regions of the world, driven by production and distribution methods that are constantly evolving.
Faced with this dynamic, international organizations and regional institutions are seeking to intensify their coordination to curb the spread of these substances and mitigate their health, economic and security consequences.
MK/ak/sf/lb/gik/APA