The world’s illicit drug economy is “thriving” owing to large increases in the production of heroin and cocaine and a wider spectrum of synthetic substances on the market, the UN’s drugs watchdog said. Global seizures of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) – which include methamphetamine, amphetamine and MDMA – reached a five-year high of 191 tonnes in 2015, according to a report from the UN office on drugs and crime based on the latest figures available. The report says: “Overall, drug trafficking seems to have increased slightly in 2015 and some drug markets, particularly the cocaine and synthetic drugs markets, appear to be thriving.”