Drug Trafficking and Its Methods
With individuals from various regions engaged in the sale, transportation, and importation of illegal drugs like cocaine, marijuana, and heroin among others, drug trafficking has become a widespread issue in many nations around the globe. Different regions have different drug trafficking cultures, and the laws there have different penalties for crimes connected to drug trafficking. Because of how profitable the illegal drug trade is, drug cartels are able to plan how their workers, the drug traffickers, will sell their products to other people. Drug trafficking is done in various ways such as by using people as couriers whereby the individual conceals the drug somewhere within themselves in some cases it is simple, and others are complex. Women as drug traffickers place the drugs especially cocaine or other powdered substances in place of their bra padding thus; it is not easily noticed, hence easy to transport without difficulty since small portions of the drugs cost a lot. Men, on the other hand, make shoe soles hollow and stuff the drugs and move easily without being noted by the authorities (Business Insider, 2017). The obese people in the drug trafficking business place the drugs under their fat rolls which cannot easily be found even when patted down during police searches. Another method of drug trafficking is by placing drugs in rubber packages and swallowing them and retrieve them later with the help of laxatives.
Public Transport
Some drug traffickers use public service vehicles like buses and subways to avoid carrying the drugs on their persons. The traffickers would board the public vehicles with their "cargo" as any other passenger, and when they arrive at their destination, they can easily alight with the drugs without suspicion (Business Insider, 2017). In case of law enforcement searches, the drug traffickers can easily deny the cargo. Other drug traffickers place the drugs on unknowing civilians in public transport and would retrieve it from them at the destination. This position the trafficker in a safe place because the innocent civilians will be the ones found in possession of the drugs and not the trafficker who placed it there.
Food Stuffs
Some traffickers conceal their drugs as fake foodstuffs which when not looked at carefully can pass as normal fruits or vegetables. Some of the common foods used are carrots and chili peppers whereby they are made to seem like normal foodstuffs, but in the real sense, they are just covering the drugs inside. Then they are packed in boxes and transported, and the authorities may pass them for harmless foods. At times the traffickers place the drugs on real farm produce like watermelons, pineapples, and coconut. Drugs like Marijuana and cocaine are put in the fruits and sealed to make them seem untampered. Another method the drug traffickers use is the placing the drugs in frozen foods like fish, and for more drugs, the traffickers may use larger fish like sharks (Business Insider, 2017).
Machinery
Most drug traffickers have adopted the use of various machinery and technology like small private airplanes which are used to transport a larger quantity of cocaine. Other traffickers use drones to ferry the drugs like marijuana to different places including prisons. Due to heightened security at borders, traffickers have devised catapults that throw drugs across the border without detection to the other side (Business Insider, 2017).
Predominant Drug Trafficking Areas
Over the years, North America has long been considered as the largest consumer of illicit drugs; it has also existed as the largest producer as well as recipient for trafficked goods. In North America, some of the predominant associated with drug trafficking include Mexico (Drug Trafficking Organizations, 2006). In modern-day Mexico has a very serious drug trafficking problem. Mexico produces and traffics illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana and the US is Mexico’s largest market. Most of the drugs trafficked in Mexico are, however, shipped from Colombia which is as one of the world’s largest cocaine-producing areas. Concerning this, Colombia possesses approximately 70% of the global cocoa leaf, while more than 90% of the global cocaine is processed there. After it’s shipped, it is then transported mainly through roads to Texas. In the US, apart from Texas, some of the drug trafficking hubs include Los Angeles, Atlanta, Arizona, and the Gulf.
Groups Associated with Drug Trafficking
There are various groups associated with drug trafficking like the drug cartel organizations which are composed of numerous drugs trafficking organization. The drug cartels may be in charge of activities like security, transport or money laundering to ensure the drug business operates successfully without problems. The drug cartels assist drug trafficking domestically with the help of the DTO, and the cartel monitor and control resources and funds channeled to facilitate drug trafficking (National Drug Threat Assessment, 2010). Most drug cartels have businesses like clubs to enable them to launder the money received from illegal drug businesses. Some of the known drug cartels are such as Ismael Zambada Garcia from Mexico, Rafael Caro Quintero also from Mexico, Red Scorpions and Bacon Brothers from North America.
Another group in the drug trafficking industry is the Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO) is an organization composed of well-connected people in charge of distributing drugs sometimes more than one type in large quantities over different locations. The DTO ensures that drugs reach every part to cater for demand from the users and are in charge of the prices of the drugs depending on the resources used to make it available (National Drug Threat Assessment, 2010).
Other groups involved in drug trafficking are such as criminal groups and street gangs. These individuals in these groups facilitate drug trafficking as they move into the residential regions to sell the drugs to the people (National Drug Threat Assessment, 2010). Some of the gangs and criminal groups have fixed locations where they sell drugs, but most of the illegal drugs are peddled in alleyways where not many people will see the drug exchange. Also, prison gangs are another group that assists in drug trafficking as they distribute drugs like cocaine and marijuana to other inmates. The prison gangs receive the drugs from members who come to visit them.
Main Routes
Most of the countries boarding North America exist as transit points for drugs such as cocaine bound for the some of the main consumer markets in North America such as the US. One of the major drug trafficking routes is that from Colombia to Mexico via the Pacific from where it proceeds to the US and Canada by land (The Geography of Drug trafficking in Mexico, 2010). According to the US government estimate that close to 90% of the cocaine from Mexico enters the US through Texas. Other important routes include from Colombia to Culiacan in Mexico from where trafficked drugs proceed on to New Mexico, Arizona, and California.
Manufacturing Aspects
Different drugs are manufactured differently like cocaine is from a coca plant which is usually planted in large scale in places like Peru, Bolivia, and Colombia. Cocaine is processed mainly in Colombia. The Bolivian traffickers have started to increase the production of Hydrochloride (HCL) which is an essential element in the processing of cocaine (Chemistry Archive, 2005). The chemicals used to manufacture cocaine are difficult to control to inhibit drug trafficking since they are readily available and have legitimate uses.
Ecstasy tablets are part of the drugs that are highly trafficked and used. Ecstasy pills can be manufactured from any location provided the equipment is available, and this is suitable for drug traffickers as it will be difficult to be noted by the authorities. Most people who manufacture ecstasy conduct the process in garages or basements of houses, and the number of pills produced is many. Ecstasy does not require plant growing a plant to be used majorly for the manufacture of the drug.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is evident that the drug traffickers are very cunning and know different ways to conceal drugs being trafficked from the authorities. Drug Trafficking involves different groups such as cartels, DTOs, street gangs, prison gangs, and criminal groups. The manufacturing aspects of a drug like cocaine and Ecstasy are different as materials for the manufacture of cocaine are readily available. On the other hand, ecstasy can be made anywhere provided the equipment and tools for manufacture are present.
References
Business Insider. (2017). Fake vegetables, frozen sharks, and an Xbox — here are some bizarre ways smugglers hide their drugs. Retrieved from: http://www.pulselive.co.ke/bi/politics/politics-fake-vegetables-frozen-sharks-and-an-xbox-here-are-some-bizarre-ways-smugglers-hide-their-drugs-id6504983.html
Chemistry Archive. (2005). Coca Cultivation and Cocaine Proessing: An Overview. Retrieved from : https://erowid.org/archive/rhodium/chemistry/coca2cocaine.html
Drug Trafficking Organizations. (2006). National Drug Intelligence Center. Retrieved From: https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs11/18862/dtos.htm
National Drug Threat Assessment. (2010). Drug Trafficking Organizations. Retrieved from: https://www.justice.gov/archive/ndic/pubs38/38661/dtos.htm
The Geography of Drug trafficking in Mexico. (2010). Geo-Mexico. Retrieved From: http://geo-mexico.com/?p=1166
