COLOMBIAN DRUG DEALERS SET UP COCAINE SUPPLY BASES IN BALKANS

MEXICO, June 19 (RIA Novosti's Mikhail Belyat) - Colombian drug clans set up bases in the Balkans to penetrate into Eastern Europe, Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UN Office Office for Drug

Control and Crime Prevention, said on Friday.

We discovered bases of Colombian drug dealers in the Balkans, in particular, in Albania, he noted. They promote Colombian cocaine to Eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine.

According to Antonio Maria Costa, formerly Colombian cocaine was coming to Europe via Spain. However, Asia, first of all, Afghanistan, remains Europe's main source of cocaine and heroin.

Meanwhile, the UN report on cocaine production in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia says that illegal cocaine crops reduced by 20% in these countries.

All in all, 200,000 families live by cocaine crops in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, the report proceeds.

According to UN experts, cocaine production in the Andes is initiated by big illegal military units in Colombia.