Today, 185 UN member states are parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), adopted by the General Assembly in 2000. The multilateral treaty has three supplementary protocols: the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women, and Children; the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea, and Air; and the Protocol against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, their Parts and Components and Ammunition. By ratifying the Convention, states are obliged to develop specific measures against transnational organized crime. This includes adopting frameworks for extradition, creating domestic criminal offenses, promoting assistance for national authorities, and so on. In this way, the Convention has functioned as the primary instrument to fight transnational organized crime and ensure safety among countries.

Afghanistan is a key player in the global illicit drug trade. Even under the former Afghan Republic government, the drug trade was the country’s largest economic sector, providing full-time employment to over half a million people. With the Taliban returning to power in 2021, illicit opium production has increased significantly as oversight and enforcement have essentially disappeared. The global trade in illicit Afghan opiates has become one of the world’s greatest transnational drug and crime threats. Even though Taliban authorities banned all cultivation of opium under strict new laws, the refinement and production of drugs themselves has not been stopped at all. This has led to higher prices of heroin and methamphetamines as the supply of opium becomes more scarce. Despite higher prices, those working in the drug production industry have seen no rewards. Ever since the US-supported government collapsed, the number of Afghans in poverty has doubled to 34 million. As a result, more Afghans are turning towards the drug trade to make money. Drug trafficking has increased by more than 30 percent within Afghanistan’s borders. This increased trafficking has led to more drugs being exported illegally. Along the Balkan Route from Pakistan, Iran, and Türkiye to Europe, heroin and meth continue to flow in massive quantities. Afghan drugs have found their way to South America, Africa, and Asia, further showing the international scope of this problem. As the primary body tasked with combating organized crime, delegates of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) will need to work together to create solutions to stop the spread of drugs from Afghanistan while managing the lack of diplomatic recognition for the Taliban government.

Money laundering has been a key part of how non-state actors fund their operations. To launder money, non-state actors hide how their money is generated and store it in a legal place. Once money has been laundered, it is used by criminal groups to pay for illegal activities. In Latin America, money laundering has been key in helping cartels fund their drug trade and violent acts against communities across the region. With billions of dollars funneled through Latin American money laundering channels, organized crime and non-state actors can fund their operations and remain a threat to governments. This can be seen with the Sinaloa Cartel, one of Mexico’s largest drug cartels. The Sinaloa Cartel’s money laundering from its drug trade has allowed it to terrorize vulnerable communities, traffic migrants, and fund turf wars against other cartels. The rise of informal financial systems has made the situation worse. Through personal loans, monetary gifts, and other unregulated money transfers, government regulators and law enforcement are losing the battle against money laundering. At the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC), delegates must create policies to stop the flow of money going to non-state actors. Delegates should work together to introduce stricter regulations and collaborate on identifying money laundering.