Golden Crescent

Located at the crossroads of Central, South, and West Asia, this space covers the mountainous peripheries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, extending into eastern Iran.

In 2007, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) heroin production estimates for the past 10 years showed significant changes in the primary source areas.

The decrease in heroin production from Myanmar is the result of several years of unfavorable growing conditions and new government policies of forced eradication.

Although Afghanistan is the major producer of opiates in the Golden Crescent, most of the seizures are made in Iran.

This is because traffickers are arrested while crossing the border from Afghanistan to Iran so that they can distribute the product to Europe and Africa where there is a high demand for opiates.

[6][11] These traffickers, essential to the transportation of the drugs from the source to end-user markets, make large profits because of how risky the job is.