Opiate

The "Balkan route," including Türkiye, is of vital importance in opiate trafficking as it is the most frequently used route for smuggling heroin and morphine, according to a recent report from the police's anti-narcotic unit.

Iran seized 8.8 tonnes of drugs destined for Europe and busted one of the three largest crime groups for drug trafficking, police officials reported on Thursday.

An US court has ordered the pharmaceutical giant Johnson and Johnson to pay $ 572 million in compensation for the opiate epidemic.

An Oklahoma judge ruled that the company was responsible for exacerbating the drug problem in the state, flooding the market with painkillers that were misleading patients.

As many as 72,000 opiate pills were seized in a bust in Istanbul, Turkey, a security source said on Aug. 13. 

Opiate production in Afghanistan has risen by 90% and reached a record 9,000 tonnes in 2017, according to the UN. Executive Director of the United Nations Drugs and Crime Unit, Yuri Fedotov, announced these figures at a session of the UN Security Council on Afghanistan.