Nuclear Smuggling Market Value: $100 Million

According to published reports, Libya paid at least $100 million in the black market to Pakistani scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan for nuclear weapons equipment and expertise.
Source: Matt Kelly, ” Nuclear weapons parts cost Libya $100 million,” San Diego Union-Tribune, March 16, 2004, and Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, “Issue Brief: Non-Proliferation, A.Q. Khan Nuclear Chronology,” [...]

Arms Trafficking Market Value: $10 Billion

The size of the arms trafficking market is estimated to be $10 billion.
Source: Moises Naim, “Broken Borders,” Newsweek International, October 24, 2005,(accessed: October 18, 2006).

Why the AK-47 is counterfeited

According to Larry Kahaner, author of AK-47:The Weapon That Changed The Face Of War, unlicensed production of AK-47s stems from the fact that the inventor of the AK-47 Mikhail Kalashnikov “never patented the rifle’s design - the thought had never occurred to him or anyone else under the Soviet regime.”
Source: Larry Kahaner, AK-47: The Weapon [...]

Russia only accounts for 10 to 12 percent of AK-47 sales

Around 100 million Ak-47s are circulating around the world, with 47 national armies utilizing the weapon. Russia has stated that it only accounts for 10 to 12 percent of the sales of the weapon, with the rest being unlicensed and counterfeit copies.
Source: RIA Novosti, “Russia set to crack down on unlicensed arms production abroad,” Russian [...]

200 to 250 cases of smuggling each year since 2000

The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) states that since the year 2000 there are about 200 to 250 cases of nuclear and radioactive materials trafficking occurring annually.
The difference in figures is due to the fact that the IAEA only reports incidents that its members have confirmed or released publicly, where the DHS includes [...]

Confirmed 149 incidents of nuclear smuggling in 2006

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirms 149 incidents of illicit trafficking and other unauthorized activities involving nuclear and radioactive materials took place in 2006.
Source: “UN atomic watchdog agency reports cases of illegal trafficking in nuclear materials,” UN News Service, February 1, 2007,(accessed: February 6, 2007).

Supply of nuclear materials

According to Stephen Flynn, author of America the Vulnerable, ” Weapons-usable nuclear materials exist in over 130 research laboratories operating in more than forty countries around the world, ranging from Ukraine to Ghana.”
Source: Stephen Flynn, America the Vulnerable,(New York: HarperCollins, 2004),pg. 4.