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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Tue Oct 12 2010 - 11:34:28 EDT
<http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/29749> Heroin addiction reaching epidemic levels in Ethiopia
October 12th, 2010 | | 11 Comments <http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/29749#comments>
http://www.ethiopianreview.com <http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/29749>
Just a couple of decades ago Khat (ጫት) consumption was limited to a small area of Ethiopia, mainly eastern and south eastern of the country. Today, Khat use is <http://www.zikkir.com/words/index.php?title=pervasive> pervasive in all parts of Ethiopia, except the Tigray region where it is outlawed.
As a result, currently a growing number of Ethiopian youth are addicted to khat, causing most of them to be less productive citizens who walk around like zombies.
The ruling party doesn’t want to control khat — although it knows about its debilitating effect on the society — because many of its officials are deeply involved in the khat trade
It is estimated that the khat market in Ethiopia alone generates well over one hundred million dollars per year.
Attracted to the fast money from trafficking in Khat, the Meles regime officials are upgrading to heroine, a dangerous drug the fries the brain. These days, in Addis Ababa and other major cities in Ethiopia, heroin use is becoming rampant, destroying the lives of a significant number of young Ethiopians.
According to Ethiopian Review sources, most of the heroine is entering the country via Ethiopian Airline flights from Asia. The traffickers include airline hostesses and airport officials who are affiliated with the ruling party who easily bypass security checks.
The heroine market in Ethiopia has become so lucrative that as a business strategy, Ethiopian aviation officials, and Ethiopian Airlines itself, are giving blind eye to heroin traffic, turning Ethiopia into a major narcotics transit route between Middle Eastern, Asian, and West African heroin markets.
The amount of drugs transiting via Ethiopia is increasing., according to <https://www.osac.gov/Reports/report.cfm?contentID=117200> OSAC. “Heroin transits Ethiopia for markets in West Africa, Europe, and the United States, primarily due to Ethiopia’s good airline connections between those markets and Asia. Nigerian and Ghanaian traffickers use Ethiopia as a transit point on a limited but increasing basis.”
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