The World - News from Jan. 15, 1988

The illegal production of drugs worldwide has reached “alarming proportions” and is being helped by accomplices in financial circles, a U.N. report said. The Vienna-based International Narcotics Control Board said drug traffickers spread violence and terrorism and exercised political and economic power in areas such as Latin America. “Major drug traffickers often adopt techniques used by large, legitimate multinational corporations,” the agency said. The report added that illegal drug production is being financed and masterminded by “criminal organizations with international links and with accomplices in financial circles.”