New research - How Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine Displaced Drug Trafficking Routes in Europe and Central Asia

Dr Alexander Kupatadze (KCL) and Prof Erica Marat (NDU) have published their latest SOC ACE research, How Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine Displaced Drug Trafficking Routes in Europe and Central Asia.

Their analysis shows how conflict has driven major shifts in Eurasia’s illicit economies. Rather than disrupting organised crime, the war in Ukraine has redirected it. Synthetic drug production has moved to Kazakhstan, heroin and cocaine routes have shifted through Belarus and the Balkans, and transnational networks have rapidly adapted to sanctions evasion pathways. Within Ukraine, domestic synthetic drug production has intensified, underscoring how conflict reshapes - rather than eliminates - criminal markets across the region.

Kupatadze and Marat’s new briefing note highlights how armed conflict abroad has destabilised synthetic drug production and trafficking routes.

Find this, and other project research, on the Exploring the Consequences of Organised Crime and Illegal Trade Displacement on Eurasia SOC ACE project page.