spi20

[spi20]

Spice-mix-salt-blend and bowl of rice and cat wife.

Disclaimer:

ATTENTION!!! IN THIS ARTICLE WE ARE NOT OFFERING, ADVISING, ENCOURAGING OR INCITING ANYTHING AND STRONGLY CONDEMN THE CONSUMPTION, MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF ILLEGAL NARCOTIC SUBSTANCES AND MEANS PROHIBITED FOR USE IN THE TERRITORY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, MOST OF WHICH FALL UNDER THE DEFINITION OF A NARCOTIC! ALL MATERIALS HERE ARE COLLECTED FOR RESEARCH, ANALYSIS, FINDING OF SCIENTIFIC TRUTH AND ARE EXCLUSIVELY FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES! THE EDITORIAL TEAM IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE OF THIS MATERIAL BY THIRD PARTIES EITHER IN PART OR IN FULL FOR CRIMINAL, IMMORAL, SELFISH AND MALICIOUS PURPOSES!

Part I.

Global Problem For several years now, half of our editorial staff has been studying social problems in the United States. We have also paid attention to those related to the increase in drug consumption in the country. The cycle of the American news company MSNBS has provided interesting reviews on this matter in recent years. In one of the episodes, it was reported that:

"According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from May 2020 to April 2021, about 100,000 people in the United States died from drug overdoses, which is almost 30% more than the previous year."

The excerpt cited cases of deaths directly caused by overdoses, not related to other factors such as kidney failure, liver and heart diseases, or accidents. More than 60% of these 100,000 deaths were caused by synthetic drugs. Only one milligram of improperly diluted mixture can kill an elephant, let alone a human.

American media outlets claim that China is the main source of synthetic drugs imported into the country. Drug cartels transport component parts for drugs through Mexico. In addition, components or finished substances can be ordered directly from China to the United States, as shown in one of the documentary films, paying for delivery with cryptocurrency.

Looking at the American problem, we became interested in how things stand in Russia. We contacted a lawyer who deals with cases related to Article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation 24/7.

Discussing the problem with him surprised us with the fact that there is no drug-related statistics in Russia. Even specialized lawyers themselves are outraged by the fact that the number of people convicted under Article 228 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is increasing every year. The number of drug overdose cases and resulting deaths is also increasing.

Last summer, RBC gave disappointing results of their own investigation on this issue for Russia:

"For example, if in 2019 drugs were the cause of death for 4,569 people, then in 2020, it was already 7,316. Last year, 10,043 people died from drug-related causes, thus the number of deaths from drugs in three years has more than doubled. In total, 139,069 people died from external causes in Russia, so deaths from drugs account for 7%."It is not known how many deaths from, for example, heart attacks are associated with drug use, and what types of drugs are involved. As the source tells us, the vast majority of convicts in recent years have been associated with the consumption and trafficking of synthetic drugs. The origin of synthetic drugs that enter the Russian market, according to the surveyed specialized lawyers, is not in Afghanistan, not in Europe, not in one of the CIS countries, and not even within the country. Domestic specialized lawyers also claim that synthetic drugs come from China.

It is known that in the PRC there is a harsh legislation with regard to drug-related offenses. Those who risk consuming, manufacturing, or distributing narcotic substances fall under the execution of the death penalty, which is still in force in China. It is believed that this ensures the safety of Chinese citizens and reduces drug-related problems in China to zero. In China itself, it is exactly so.

Part II. We are hitching unshod horses for a long time:

In 2011, the UN issued a report on the leadership of synthetic drugs in the global drug market:

"In the new report, the Office states that amphetamine-type stimulants have surpassed heroin and cocaine in popularity and taken second place after cannabis. For example, in Southeast Asian countries in 2010, approximately 133 million dangerous tablets were seized. In 2008, no more than 32 million were seized in the region."

This became a starting point for more focused attention to this problem. Another excerpt from the report:

"Every year, drugs are the cause of death of about 200,000 people. Until recently, the opinion was prevalent that synthetic drugs had a weak impact, but more and more people are becoming addicted to them."

Of course, synthetic drugs did not appear yesterday. LSD and MDMA (ecstasy) were on American streets throughout the 80s and 90s, and in Europe since the beginning of the 00s. Russian consumers of inorganic drugs were limited to the crocodile and synthetic marijuana in the 2010s. The latter, only seemingly harmless. Synthetic marijuana dried out the consumer's brain much faster than natural product and was the most fatal. We knew acquaintances who, after several years of use, literally went crazy.

About Krokodil, let's not mention it. Gangrene and skin cancer for the consumer were provided. But all of this is the specifics of underground trade and, so to speak, folk art in production. Russian authorities ignored so-called "spice" and smoking mixtures that had flooded the streets of big and small cities throughout the 2000s and half of the 2010s. Mixtures were sold openly literally on every corner. It was not illegal for some time, until a narcotic explosion began in Russia through the open sale of Eastern spices and incense. Only by the beginning of 2015 did Arkady Mamontov, a journalist for VGTRK, make a film about the problems of Russia with synthetic drugs.

This was the first time when the Russian authorities paid attention to the problem and let the public know that they were aware of it. Mamontov's film was useful in the sense that it gave an understanding of what is good and what is bad.

From it, we highlighted the following:

Synthetic drugs cause addiction from the first intake;

The formula for the finished product is constantly changing;

Synthetic substances cannot be detected at border crossings, and specially trained dogs are unable to detect them.

From this, we draw important conclusions. The substances are made from chemical compounds that have strong addictive properties, which is not a side effect, but the main driving force behind their trade. The manufacturer of the substances can adjust the component base to fit certain restrictions on the import of certain chemicals, making it difficult not only to ban their circulation, but also to control it. In addition, chemical substances may have a dual purpose and be imported into the country for legitimate purposes. Components for synthetic drugs are more difficult to detect at customs and border crossings compared to products of living nature that have a scent. Lastly, synthetic drugs are products of the chemical industry. Otherwise, it is difficult to imagine how a product from the illegal drug market became a leader, often changing its formula and saturating the market in volumes that other beneficiaries could not achieve in decades.

The drug market itself is structured in such a way as to constantly create a shortage of narcotic substances, in addition to their status as prohibited for circulation in most countries in the world. Full legalization of narcotic substances could create problems for profitable trade. Prohibitions and shortages create a high cost for consumers and a stable flow of profits for the owners of this market. In turn, synthetic drugs in recent years have been destroying such competitive conditions in the drug market. A purely capitalist process takes place, which can also lead to a redistribution of the market and the emergence of new monopolies.

Summing up the film Mamontov, the problem is examined through its consequences, and attempts are made to resort to ethics and morality to address them. However, there is no mention of who and where chemical substances for the drug market are developed. The reasons why people increasingly resort to substances that suppress willpower and expand consciousness, in order to escape from the mundane reality that most people experience, are also not disclosed.

The latest UN reports are more informative on the topic of the spread of synthetic drugs. The ease of production, large volumes, and affordable prices have ensured the leadership of synthetic drugs, which have already displaced opioids. It is also noted that the problem of growing drug consumption has socio-economic causes:

"A more unstable socio-economic situation may lead to an increase in the consumption of psychoactive substances and intensify the consumption of harmful drugs among the population. Studies of the global financial crisis of 2008 showed changes in the structure of drug consumption and service provision. Similar trends may arise due to the economic downturn associated with COVID-19. There is also an increase in drug consumption and a transition from more expensive drugs to cheaper ones, a transition to injectable drugs and substances with increased health risks due to more frequent injections."

In Part III. CCP at the head of the liberal economy

In 2010, there was a noticeable increase in chemical production in China. At the same time, China's share of the global chemical production market was also growing. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, China has become the leader in the chemical industry market, accounting for 43% of its share in the past and early this year. China has also become the world leader in the export of chemical products, with a turnover of $334.4 billion in 2020.

The US and Germany are close behind China, with significant gaps between all others. Of all the listed countries, China is the only supplier of chemical products that can be imported into Russia and sold freely, but with a ban on circulation.

For example, the substance with the formula C₁₀H₁₂N₂ is the strongest alkaloid and a derivative component found in prescription drugs worldwide. These drugs are produced around the world and imported into Russia, including from enterprises in Germany and Belarus. In one form or another, this chemical substance is prohibited from being imported and circulated in Russia. However, the C₁₀H₁₂N₂ substance in powder and other forms is freely available on well-known Chinese trading platforms.

Another example is the import of so-called nicotine salt into Russia. Russian teenagers in the eastern regions of the country are actively using this chemical raw material as a smoking mixture, despite the fact that it poses more dangers than regular cigarettes. Nicotine salt remains legal under the Russian legal system. The first alarms were raised in Amur: "For our region, cannabis has always been relevant. But in recent years, the illegal drug market in Russia has been transformed towards the displacement of plant-based drugs with synthetic ones. This is due to their relative cheapness, availability, and the possibility of manufacturing them in underground drug labs," according to law enforcement agencies. This is a widespread trend, characteristic of many countries, and it has not spared us.

This smoking mixture, despite its apparent harmlessness, can be considered an intermediate stage, leading to the use of other substances with more pronounced narcotic effects and, as a result, to more severe cases of intoxication, including fatal outcomes.

It should be emphasized that the successful operation of chemical laboratories, including those with dual-use capabilities, is impossible without interaction with the state apparatus. In capitalist conditions, research in and of itself does not generate profits and does not pay for itself in any way. The profits come from the results of the research. This means that laboratories producing chemical substances, including those with dual-use capabilities, must be financed by someone before they can develop a product to sell on the market. Not to mention that the results of the research must be produced somewhere else, not only to replace the funds invested in the research but also to generate profits.

The search for information among Chinese sources did not yield any results. From American sources, it was discovered that there is no concept of control over the trade and supply of their goods that enter the international market within the People's Republic of China (PRC). The Chinese administration does not have information about what and in what quantities the PRC has imported into the United States. In China itself, only financial accounting is conducted for all operations, i.e., there are only figures for the turnover of funds resulting from international trade. This was the main claim from American congressmen and President Trump towards Chinese trade methods on US territory. The issue was not about economic wars between the US and Chinese technology giants Xiaomi and Huawei. The latter was a mediated phenomenon involving competitors of Chinese companies in the US. The main reason was that local administrations I had to keep track of the goods that were coming into the US market from China myself, as China preferred not to provide this data. Going further, in terms of the methods of delivery of Chinese goods, it gets even more interesting. According to various sources, China has long been buying and renting seaports around the world. In the Atlantic Ocean, in Europe, the sphere of China's maritime trade interests began to be realized in the Balkans: "Chinese goods go to the EU through Macedonia and Serbia. It is a long process, plus customs must be cleared along the way. It would be much more convenient for China to import its goods through the Montenegrin port of Bar, from where they will reach Serbia via the high-speed highway built on Chinese credit, and then on to the EU market," says Oleg Bondarenko, the founder and editor-in-chief of the Balkanist.ru project, to the VZGLYAD newspaper.

Note that the Balkan region is a leader in drug trafficking in Europe. There were also interests in ports in Crimea until 2013. These interests remain regarding ports in Italy and Spain. In Africa, it is Algeria and Israel. If we take the borders of the Indian and Pacific Oceans, these are the states of the Australian Union, Pakistan, island states of Oceania, such as the Solomon Islands, and the eastern coast of Africa - Tanzania and Mozambique. There is, of course, an interest in the Russian ports of Primorye - Zarubino and Posiet. The Chinese leadership has long been trying to get these ports on long-term lease. On the same principle as China rented part of the ports in North Korea in the Rason region, which borders both China and the Russian Primorsky Territory. Now this port is the center of free market trade of the PRC on the territory of closed North Korea.

China's interests in trade in the Indian Ocean and how important these maritime routes are for China's energy security can be explained in detail in Iran. China buys Iranian oil and supplies the southern part of the country, where it meets the needs of 80% of the population of China. In addition, China is constantly negotiating with India not only about infrastructure construction on its territory but also about the construction of military bases that will provide security for China's maritime trade. In fact, China is already building military bases in Cambodia in the Indian Ocean.

China's involvement in the world's ports through construction, purchase, and leasing is not limited to these actions. In these ports, a special port police force is almost immediately established. This is a special agency that ensures security in these ports. In turn, ethnic Chinese work in these ports. Therefore, it is quite logical to have a security service in ports that monitors order where workers live and work. According to various sources, China has banned the resettlement of its citizens in several countries, including practically all of Europe, the United States, Canada, Latin American countries, and others.

Let's clarify that the police is a state institution. By creating police forces in the territories of other sovereign states, China is indicating that they own a part of the territory of that sovereign state. Sometimes, this creates problems on the world stage, and the phenomenon receives a certain reaction. According to the Russian Service of the BBC, "The reason for the investigation was a report by the Spanish-based non-governmental organization (NGO) Safeguard Defenders, entitled 'Chinese Transnational Policing Gone Wild,' which can be translated as 'China's transnational policing operations have gone out of control.'"

According to this NGO, departments of the Ministry of Public Security of two Chinese provinces have established 54 foreign police stations in 21 countries on five continents. The majority of such "stations," the report says, are in Europe, including 9 in Spain and 4 in Italy. The UK was not forgotten either: the NGO counted two "stations" in London and one in Glasgow.

According to the latest data, the number of Chinese police stations has reached over 100, located in the territories of 53 countries worldwide. The Epochtimes publication gives this phenomenon epithets such as "Export of Repression":

"As it is claimed, these stations were created to assist Chinese immigrants in foreign countries in solving problems that are usually solved at the consulate, such as renewing driver's licenses and visas."

However, more and more often these points are linked to the United Front Work Department (UFWD) - an agency that works to promote the interests of the Chinese Communist Party abroad by spreading propaganda, conducting operations to influence foreigners, suppressing dissident movements, collecting intelligence, and facilitating technology transfer to China. It is not difficult to imagine what this so-called port police might look like and what activities they might engage in. Where there is organized police, there is also a place for organized crime. Drawing on the experience of the Russian and Ukrainian port mafia, which partly paved the way for the transition of CIS countries to modern capitalist reality, organized crime is always involved in any port in the world depending on what cargo passes through it. Through port criminal groups, any goods can potentially be sold on the black market, including narcotics.

The leasing and acquisition of ports fits into China's main trade and financial program called the "Belt and Road" or the "New Silk Road". An excerpt from the program document voiced by Mr. Xi in 2014 (the text is translated into Russian) reads: "The New Silk Road connects China's dream and the world's dream. China will work with other countries to accelerate the construction of the Economic Belt of the Silk Road and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, as well as to launch the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as soon as possible, more actively participate in regional cooperation, and promote mutual support and complementarity of development and security in Asia."

The website "Belt and Road" is available in open access and in all languages: http://ru.brnn.com/ Russia plays a significant role in this project. China is interested in our Northern Sea Route, which reduces its delivery time to Europe by 7000 km or 19 calendar days. In perspective, this means significant profits and potential for increasing the productivity of Chinese workers for trade and the global economy as a whole. In addition to the sea route from Asia to Europe, Russia and Central Asia participate as transit zones in China's land projects to also supply the western part of the continent with goods from China.

We are dealing with a situation where the trade carried out by China becomes uncontrollable for the rest of the world. For China, it is just numbers in financial reports. For others, there is a lack of understanding of what is being shipped by Chinese ships and trains, making their way from one Chinese port to another. In addition to this, the economic sanctions war between the so-called West and the so-called East has created conditions for China to disconnect the notification on its ships, making them invisible to global shipping. Since the 90s, the Automatic Identification System (AIS) has been used at sea to provide safety on the routes of ships, giving all AIS users information about each other at sea. Private users also have access to this information, such as suppliers and customers who track the route of their goods. Chinese fishing vessels have long tried not to put AIS in order to poach in Korean and Russian waters. Now China has also stopped providing information about the location of its trading ships, citing Chinese laws on the non-disclosure of confidential information regarding both Chinese citizens and property owned by them. In the last hundred years, this case is unique, even within the framework of capitalist relations between countries. It is quite logical that this situation has also affected the global drug market. In fact, Russian organizations, both semi-commercial and state-owned, should be involved in the trading relationship between China and Russia. For example, there is the Russian-Chinese Center for Trade and Economic Cooperation. The head of the company is Sergei Felixovich Sanakoev. This gentleman has been caught justifying the lack of jobs for Russian workers at Chinese enterprises built in Russia, stating that highly skilled specialists must work at high-tech enterprises and possess qualities that Russian workers do not have. Of course, there are other trading organizations responsible for the trade turnover between Russia and China. We will only note that in the production and supply of chemical components on the territories of various countries, it is impossible to imagine the ignorance of the leadership of these territories about who and what is being traded, in whose interests this trade is conducted, as well as who and how much has received profits from it.

It is unlikely that the leadership of the Russian Federation is unaware of the global problem of drug trafficking, but domestic federal channels have stopped paying attention to it. The topic is not often discussed in the media today, as one would like, even though the trend could turn into a catastrophe. Recently, RT tried to release something on the topic. It was a unique case where drug couriers were recruited through job vacancy websites like HH.ru and others, with salaries above the regional average. Unfortunately, the RT-DOC channel on Youtube was removed along with this film. Unofficial Russian media outlets and bloggers have plenty of work related to the recruitment mechanism of drug couriers and the disclosure of their activities, which, in addition to moral issues, carries the risk of receiving a real prison sentence.

Our editorial staff conducted an experiment. We went to the open and well-known Chinese trading platform "three-letter grandma." We found several sellers of chemical components from China and contacted them to get comments that were of most interest to us. Let's go through the questions asked in order.

What do they supply?

According to the seller, they supply chemical components that are used for various purposes. After checking the names and comparing them with lists of substances prohibited for import and circulation in the territory of the Russian Federation, we found that some of the chemical substances presented on the "three-letter-baba" resource in open access are prohibited. Another part of the chemical substances is often included in the composition of medical drugs that are strictly prescribed in Russia. It is also strictly prohibited to transport them in pure form to the territory of Russia.

The seller assured us that they supply some goods openly, while others under different names. Note that many conduct trade through platforms where there is an opportunity to avoid direct communication with the seller. We communicated with the sellers at our own request. We did not have certificates or confirmations that we have the right to purchase these goods. Likewise, no one demanded such confirmations from us. Otherwise, it is clear to everyone what the seller knows - what and to whom they are selling, and the buyer knows - what and from whom they are buying. The conditions are entirely consistent with free market trade.

How and where do they deliver?

The seller gave us an oral guarantee that if the goods do not pass through customs, they will either refund the money or resend the goods. Also, we were offered delivery straight to the door. If the buyer has any doubts, the seller will arrange everything so that the goods from China pass all inspections, bypass all customs barriers and end up at the buyer's doorstep. When we asked for additional confirmation that the entire buying and selling process would go smoothly, the seller provided us with screenshots of their recent orders that they fulfilled in Russia.

The cities mentioned were Moscow (sorting point), Kazan, Tomsk, Timashevsk and others. This seller delivers their products not only to the territory of the Russian Federation but also to the United States, Europe, and Asia. Please pay attention to the dates and the number of parallel orders. These are tons of chemicals that are used by criminals in the trade of narcotic substances. Without taking into account the context of the entire work, it is difficult for us to imagine anything else that is legal. After all, there are no restrictions on "three-letter-lady" for both legal entities and individuals. This aspect also gave us an understanding of the fact that the sales of chemical components by this seller are quite high, and there are hundreds of such sellers on open Chinese trading platforms.

With such volumes, we have doubts that the Russian customs can fully and without errors pass through themselves all this multimillion turnover between Russia and China. After all, these are really tens or hundreds of thousands of parcels a day, with different volumes and compositions. Not to mention checking at customs every incomprehensible mixture or liquid, a product of the Chinese chemical industry. Residents of Khabarovsk will not deny how poorly the Russian customs works at the Chinese border21: "In the Khabarovsk Territory, as in any other region of Russia, everyone has access to the resources through which drugs are spread. The prosecutor's office constantly fights against dealers and achieves the closure of such sites. For example, supervisory authority employees in the Komsomolsky district monitored the Internet and found that on two portals, unknown persons offered to anyone to buy drugs and potentially dangerous psychoactive substances: "crystals", "speed", and so on. In such cases, the prosecutor's office appeals to the court, where a decision is made to close access to the site. After that, the information is transmitted to Roskomnadzor, which includes the addresses of such resources in the Unified Register of Prohibited Information. In any case, no matter how well-coordinated the work of various agencies is here, creating a new site is several times faster."

The stick system and quarterly disclosure plan once again triumphed in the struggle between the real ban on drug trafficking and mere control over it. At the same time, in fact, there has long been no fight or control over drug trafficking in the country. What the sellers offered was divided into two conditional categories: (1) chemical compounds that required special processing and (2) those that did not require any processing at all, i.e. a ready-to-use product. Accordingly, the first ones were cheaper, prices are shown in screenshots. The latter were much more expensive, costing several thousand dollars per kilogram of the finished mixture.

The volumes of supplies are literally ANY - from 1 kg to several tons. When we talked to the seller and he asked how much we would "like to order," we arbitrarily named a volume of 10 kilograms. The seller named the cost after a minute and almost immediately stated the method of payment, as well as provided some guarantees that the cargo would reach the buyer's door.

Part V. Revenge or Profit

Initially, we believed that the seller did not fully understand the purposes for which this product was being used. As our communication continued, our misconception and naivety became increasingly apparent. We couldn't resist and confessed to the seller that we didn't actually want to buy anything, but were just gathering evidence for an article about how China openly trades drugs and their components. We made it clear to the seller how we felt about his actions and that they go far beyond basic human morality. However, our indignation did not seem to faze him. He did not panic, did not delete our conversation, and did not insult us for wasting his time. Instead, he continued to send messages for a long time, asking questions such as whether we might still buy something, even a small batch. Maybe we needed a discount to make a decision to buy a package, a cart, a wagon, or even a whole container of the substance.

It is obvious that drug dealers from China are not bothered by anything. We also assume that this could have been just a manager who is profiting from the sales. For this caste of workers, such a distorted perception of reality becomes more evident, depending on the price that the manager paid by making a deal with their conscience.

On the other hand, the sellers are not trading substances that will kill people's health in their own China. They trade from China with other countries, delivering through logistics companies and do not have problems passing customs in other countries, especially where they have their own or leased seaports or goods transport hubs.

If we were to make claims against the Chinese government (let's imagine this unlikely scenario), they could always refer to the owner of the trading platform. For example, they could ask Jack Ma, a Chinese citizen who has left the country, why there is open trading of chemical narcotic substances through his trading platforms. However, in China, there is legislation protecting private property, even for those citizens who do not support the Chinese government's policies. Therefore, it is evident that the Chinese government is not involved in this matter. In fact, where can responsibility be found within China for trading narcotic substances or their derivatives that leave their territory? Chinese sellers will not take this responsibility in other countries, where they openly send prohibited substances.

According to our opinion, to prevent such actions, special sanctions and pressure at the political level are necessary. However, given the established relations between Russia and China, it is pointless to expect such tough measures from the Russian political elite. The same applies to the Chinese side, as this brings profits and ensures China's leadership in the market for chemical industry exports. Everyone benefits except for us, the potential consumers of synthetic drugs. China could solve the problem of drug trafficking or their components by introducing an international certification system. Then, companies related to the Chinese chemical industry will be required to obtain licenses from the regulatory authorities of other countries where the goods are supplied. This will significantly reduce drug trafficking, not to mention the trial of all drug dealers in China. However, the leadership of China is in no hurry to do this, introducing only simple laws and amendments to limit the production of dual-use chemicals, but this only interrupts the trade for a while. The formula for the drug changes, and the supply resumes with renewed force.

Here, we are further discussing the social aspect of the problem raised by us. The fight against drug addiction is related to the social struggle, among other things. In addition to opposing suppliers and manufacturers of substances aimed at profiting from the health of others, using the consequences of capitalist exploitation of workers. Essentially, this is what drugs are today, which drives many to find ways to escape the reality around us. It is just another tool for managing society, which only smoothes out socio-economic problems, but does not eliminate them. The struggle for people who have fallen under this control, as well as those who may have the opportunity to become involved, is also important and necessary, as is the fight against other destructive aspects of our life and activities.

In the case of China, all of the above is most similar to resentment or revenge, rather than mere enrichment. With extreme consistency, China repeats the experience of those who, for several centuries of colonial oppression, and until the Socialist Revolution in China, physically exterminated the population of the Celestial Empire. Opioid dependence in those days killed millions of Chinese. There were also opium wars on its territory. China's methods of maritime trade also have parallels with the fleet of the British Empire. The latter also built and captured ports all over...