UNSMIL warns of increasing synthetic drug trafficking across the Arab region

Tripoli, March 14, 2026 (LANA) – The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) called for enhanced data sharing and regional cooperation to combat the increasing trafficking of synthetic drugs across the Arab region.

This came in a statement by the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary-General and UN Resident Coordinator in Libya, Ulrika Richardson, during her participation in a high-level meeting held on the sidelines of the 69th session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. The meeting, organized by Naif Arab University for Security Sciences and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), addressed the rapidly evolving synthetic drug market in the Arab region.

Richardson also emphasized, during the meeting which included representatives from international organizations and regional partners, the need for stronger regional cooperation to address the rapidly growing synthetic drug market. She noted that drug trafficking is no longer merely a criminal issue confined within national borders, but has become a threat to peace, security, and development globally.

She explained that organized crime networks operate on an increasing scale across national borders, adding that these criminal networks also tend to intersect with other illicit economies, exploiting fragile contexts and contributing to the proliferation of informal networks that can fuel instability.

=Lana=