In 2022 drug-related crimes soared by 47% in Armenia – MP

YEREVAN, February 28. /ARKA/. Some 2,266 drug-related crimes were reported in Armenia in 2022, a 47% rise from 2021, MP Agnesa Khamoyan from the opposition Hayastan alliance told parliament today.

"In 2018, some 877 drug-related crimes were reported to law-enforcement bodies, in 2019 – 1,088 crimes, in 2020 – 1,226, in 2021 – 1,544, and in 2022 – 2,266 crimes, a 47% increase over the previous year,' she said official statistics.

Khamoyan said the rise was due to an increase in drug sales via the Internet, particularly through telegram channels, whose advertisements can be seen even on the streets.

"In order to present the scale of the problem of drugs distribution via telegram I would like to point out that at the beginning of 2022 a separate unit was created in the Criminal Police Department for combating drug trafficking, which detected 435 drug shops, 35 channels and over 100 chats in the telegram," she said.

According to the MP, last year 76% of drug shipments were made through postal delivery, and most payments are made through electronic wallets and bitcoins.

She said synthetic drugs are predominantly sold online, with methamphetamine being the most common. "Conversations with experts, psychologists show that there is a serious problem with raising the awareness of the problem. A significant proportion of young people who use drugs are convinced that methamphetamine is not addictive. This is not true," she stressed.

Khamoyan also drew attention to the fact that the age of people who use drugs has decreased and there are more women and minors among them. She said preventive work and development of a new strategy to combat drug trafficking are needed.-0-