Drug Trafficking

Drug Trafficking

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime defines drug trafficking as a global and illegal trade that entails the growth, processing, distribution and trade of commodities that are controlled by drug prohibition laws (UNODC, 2013). The process of trafficking drugs involves growers, manufacturers, suppliers, distributors and dealers operating in over one hundred and ninety countries in the world. The practice is more lucrative in some countries than others. For instance, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) considers the American drug market to be one of the most profitable globally. These profits attract a host of traffickers who are willing to engage in ruthless or sophisticated practices to ship their products (Policyalmanac.org, 2013).

Diverse groups of people are involved in activities related to the trafficking and distribution of drugs. The channels and methods that they use to conduct these activities vary depending on the source of the commodities and the intended destination. For instance, Mexico’s location just south of the US allows criminal groups in the country to traffic drugs into the US by land and sea (Policyalmanac.org, 2013). In some cases, they force people to swallow the drugs and go into other countries with the substances inside the bodies (Policyalmanac.org, 2013). In other instances, the drugs are hidden in vehicles, which are then driven across borders. Traffickers are normally forced to use other methods when shipping drugs over larger distances. Criminal syndicates in Europe and Israel use commercial airlines and package carriers to move MDMA (popularly known as ecstasy) around the world (Policyalmanac.org, 2013).

Globalization has affected drug trafficking in a number of ways. Most of these effects have been negative, as they have given the drug traffickers an advantage over law enforcement authorities. For instance, economic globalization has presented traffickers with a range of new options that they can use to launder their money (Thirlwell, 2010). Some drug traffickers are using their money to invest in industries in Africa and Asia. They are then able to legally claim their profits, bank freely and use their once “dirty” money. The amount of money laundered annually is estimated to be between $800 billion and 2 trillion. The drug trade accounts for $300 billion of that money (Thirlwell, 2010). Another detriment of globalization with regard to the drug trade is that the phenomenon has made it possible for the traffickers to expand their horizons and access overseas markets. For example, most of the MDMA sold in the US comes from Israel and Russia, with the traffickers able to ship their products by air (Policyalmanac.org, 2013).

One obvious impact of drug trafficking has been the increase in drug addiction in affected countries and regions. Drug abuse and addiction normally rises in a region, as it becomes a popular destination and transit point for drug traffickers. As an example, Scutti (2013) explains that as trafficking in West Africa has seen an increase in the number of addicts in the region to approximately 1.5 million. Drug trafficking also causes an increase in crime as witnessed in various countries in South America that are experiencing soaring crime rates because of the activities of addicts and criminal groups (Scutti, 2013).

Law enforcement authorities should focus their war on drugs on the producers, distributors and dealers instead of the users. There are many reasons for this. One reason is that drug dealing activities increase the incidence of crime. The drug wars between the Mexican cartels exemplify this as they have claimed thousands of lives in the country (Scutti, 2013). Trafficking also helps to protect the people who they exploit such as the forced drug mules. One strategy that can be used to fight drug traffickers is the legalization of less harmful drugs such as ecstasy and Marijuana. A similar strategy was employed in Portugal in the turn of the century as the government legalized the personal possession of all drugs. This strategy helped the country’s addicts come out from their hiding places and appeal for help. Resultantly, drug use in the country has gone down along with rate of HIV infection and the rate of incarceration (Szalavitz, 2009). This suggests that actively pursuing the drug users causes more harm than good.

 

References

Policyalmanac.org. (2013). Drug Trafficking in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.policyalmanac.org/crime/archive/drug_trafficking.shtml

Scutti, S. (2013). Drug Trafficking As Well As Drug Abuse Pose Health Threat To Many, UN Report States. Retrieved from http://www.medicaldaily.com/drug-trafficking-well-drug-abuse-pose-health-threat-many-un-report-states-247253

Szalavitz, M. (2009). Drugs in Portugal: Did Decriminalization Work? Retrieved from http://content.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1893946,00.html

Thirlwell, M. (2010). The dark side of globalization. Retrieved from http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2010/05/31/the-dark-side-of-globalisation.aspx

UNODC. (2013). Drug trafficking. Retrieved from http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/

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