International drug trafficking networks and enforcement strategies

International Drug Trafficking number of drugs including cocaine, opiates, cannabis, and synthetic drugs such as MDMA (ecstasy) and methamphetamines are considered illegal in most parts of the world. Declaring a substance illegal, however, does not mean that its use or demand can be eliminated as was so famously experienced in the United States after the alcohol prohibition in the 1920s. It just results in the creation of a black market in which the demand for the banned substances (in this case, illicit drugs) is met by organized criminals. Similarly, the current worldwide demand for illicit drugs is largely met through international drug trafficking -- a multi-billion dollar cross-border business that links the growers and producers of the illicit drugs with the consumers. This paper about "International Drug Trafficking" describes the extent of the problem, analyzes the reasons for drug trafficking and the changing patterns in recent times, besides giving an overview of the major drugs being trafficked internationally. The related problem of money laundering through which most of global drug trade is financed is also touched briefly.

The Extent of the Problem

Statistics about the production, trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs are notoriously difficult to come by due to the hidden nature of the trade, but a recent report by the United Nations reveals that an estimated 3% of the global population (or 185 million people) are current consumers of illicit drugs. This translates into 4.7% of the world population in the age group of 15 to 64. Drug users include people from around the world, regardless of their cultural, social and economic background. It is generally agreed that the total number of illicit drug users around the globe have stabilized over the last few years and illicit drug use is far lower than, for example, global tobacco use which is close to 30% among the 15 to 64 age-group. These figures, though encouraging, cannot be cause for complacency since notable increase in the use of certain individual drugs such as designer drugs (amphetamines and ecstasy) and cannabis have been observed of late. Most governments, policy makers and the public opinion in a majority of countries are in agreement that the current levels of drug use are very high and need to be brought down considerably. The concern about controlling drug abuse is due to health reasons, i.e., the death and destruction caused by drug abuse, particularly among the youth; the promotion of related criminal activities such as money laundering and terrorism, and other long-term effects on the social and political cultures of the countries involved in drug trade including the promotion of violence, corruption and the spread of HIV / AIDS along drug trafficking routes.

Reasons for Drug Trafficking

The single major reason why people get involved in drug trafficking is the enormous amount of profits that can be made in the business due to its illegal nature. Although considerable amounts of money are made from the growing and production of illicit drugs, drug trafficking is the most lucrative part of the drug trade because the share of underground money in drug trafficking is the largest. The desire to accumulate power, which is arguably just a corollary of money, is also cited as a reason for indulging in drug trafficking. Some dealers of soft drugs such as marijuana who work with relatively low profit margins cite a "philanthropic desire" to enable people to enjoy such illegal drugs and to help them to get "high" rather than pure profit as their main motivation for being in the drug trade. This may seem far fetched in a capitalist culture where all economic activities are supposed to be triggered by the desire to make money. On the other hand, we must keep in mind the idealistic nature of the counter-culture movement of the 1960s, which had adopted the use of marijuana as a symbol of its disdain for materialistic values and, therefore, there may be some truth in the assertion. However, there is little doubt that the overriding reason for drug trafficking -- including that of marijuana -- is the desire to tap the enormous amounts of profits in the trade due to the high cost of an illegal product, which is not very expensive to make.

The Changing Patterns of Drug Trafficking

Since the major objective of drug trafficking is making of money, the activity follows the basic economic rules of supply and demand, applying the best available technology and appropriating resources to maximize the profits. This also requires the drug traffickers making appropriate adjustments in their modus operandi to counter the moves of the drug enforcing agencies. For example, n recent times, there has been a significant reduction in the trafficking of opium-based drugs such as heroin, while trafficking of synthetic drugs (e.g., amphetamines and ecstasy) has increased probably due to higher profit margins in the trading of the new drugs.

Another discernable pattern in international drug trafficking is the trend to move towards harder drugs of higher potency that enables the transportation of substance of greater value in smaller bulks. This is reflected in the move towards the traffic of synthetic drugs and more potent / concentrated forms of other drugs such as crack and hashish. The trafficking trends are also affected by other factors such as political developments, fashions in drug-taking and the policies of the drug-enforcing agencies. In the recent past, cannabis has assumed a position of a quasi-legal drug in certain parts of the world such as parts of Europe and Canada, drawing less severe attention from the drug enforcers. This could be one of the reasons for the increase in its consumption and supply, which runs counter to a general shift towards trafficking of harder drugs.

The United States and Europe remain the major markets for drug trafficking but, increasingly, the traffickers are now targeting the markets of the countries of their origin for their operations too. For example heroin abuse was unknown in Afghanistan and Pakistan until the 1980s -- two major producers of opium. Now, the countries have a serious internal drug problem on their hands with millions of local heroin addicts. This aspect of the drug problem provides a strong incentive for the producer countries to crack down on drug trafficking in their own country -- something they may have neglected to do in the past by considering the drug trade as "someone else's problem."

Overview of Major Drugs Being Trafficked Internationally

The major drugs being trafficked internationally are cannabis (marijuana and hashish), cocaine, opiates (heroin, morphine, and opium), and amphetamine type stimulants (ats) (methamphetamine, ecstacy, and amphetamine). The major target markets for the sale of most illegal drugs are Europe and the United States mainly because the highest profits can be extracted only from high-income countries while different regions of the world "specialize" in the farming and manufacturing of different drugs. Notable areas of origin are: Columbia and other Latin American countries for cocaine; the "golden triangle" -- border areas of Thailand, Laos, and Burma -- as well as Afghanistan and the border areas of Pakistan for heroin. Cannabis is grown in many countries around the world and the synthetic drugs such as MDMA (ecstasy) and Methamphetamines are also manufactured in different countries, most notably in the United States, Myanmar and Netherlands.

Cannabis (marijuana & hashish):

Cannabis, usually distributed in the form of cannabis herb (marijuana) and cannabis resin (hashish), is the most extensively trafficked drug in the world and it is produced and consumed in virtually every country. In 2002 alone, a total of 5800 tons of cannabis products (4700 tons of herbs, 1000 tons of resin and 1 ton of cannabis oil) were seized worldwide -- a total which is more than 100 times of heroin seized in the same period. These seizure figures indicate a generally upward trend from the 1990s onward with overall figures for 2002 being twice as high as a decade earlier.

The main market for cannabis herb (marijuana) is the United States with Mexico being its main supplier, followed by other Latin American countries, while the main market for cannabis resin (hashish) is Europe -- Morocco, Pakistan and Afghanistan being the main suppliers to the region. Country-wise cannabis seizures for 2002 show that Mexico leads the pack for marijuana followed by the United States, while for hashish, most seizures were made in Morocco, followed by Pakistan.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), most of the marijuana is smuggled into the U.S. By organized crime groups operating from Mexico, who maintain extensive networks of associates, often related through familial or regional ties to people living in the United States. These criminal groups also control the smuggling and wholesale distribution network from the so-called "hub cities" to retail markets throughout the country.

Cocaine:

Cocaine, produced from the Coca plant is mostly grown and produced in South America, with Columbia being the leading producer. The main market for the product is the United States, although the latest trend in cocaine traffic indicates that drug traffickers are increasingly diverting their shipments to Europe.

The global cocaine seizures in 2002 indicate a 10% fall from 1999 -- the latest peak year for cocaine production. Although the bulk of cocaine seizures in 2002 continued to be in the Americas (55%in South America; 32% in North America), the most disturbing trend is the rise in European seizures (13% v. 6% in 1990 and 8% in 2000). The increase in cocaine trafficking to Europe is mainly due to the saturated and relatively high-risk market of North America and the relatively higher profits available in Europe. The declining trend in cocaine traffic to North America is attributed to effective eradication programs in the source countries and stricter crack-down by the drug enforcers on the cocaine market in the U.S.

Most of the worldwide cocaine traffic is managed by deeply entrenched criminal groups / drug cartels based in Columbia. These organizations use a sophisticated infrastructure to move cocaine by land, sea, and air into the U.S. And to Europe. They also operate cocaine distribution and drug money laundering networks in the U.S. with a vast infrastructure of multiple cells, each performing specific function within the organization, e.g., transportation, local distribution, or money movement.

Opiates (Heroin, Morphine & Opium)

The Golden Triangle (Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos) and South West Asia (Afghanistan, Pakistan) have been the leading source of opiate products in the last two decades. Worldwide seizures of opiates increased by 9% in 2002 after having fallen almost 21% in the previous year as reported in the UN World Drug Report, 2004. This increase was mainly due to a significant increase in the large-scale cultivation and processing of poppy in Afghanistan. About 10 years ago, the main opium producers were the Golden Triangle countries but these have been overtaken by the South West Asia (mainly Afghanistan) in opium production and trafficking. This reversal has been due to a successful operation against poppy growing and opium / heroin production in the Golden Triangle countries (production has more than halved in Myanmar and Laos as compared to 1990) while the production in Afghanistan has more than doubled in the same period.

The current trend in opiate trafficking is reflected in the increased seizures in South West Asia (Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan), which rose by 18% over the previous year. Most of the opiate products grown and processed in Afghanistan are routed either through Iran and Pakistan or through Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan with the Central Asian route being preferred for the traffic of heroin and the Iran / Pakistan route catering for opium and morphine.

The heroin and other opiate products produced in Afghanistan are mostly trafficked to Western Europe where the wholesale and retail trade of heroin is mainly controlled by Turkish / Kurdish and Albanian criminal groups. Trafficking of opiates is far less in the Americas with seizures in 2002 representing 6% of the total global seizures. The bulk of opiates and heroin transported to the United States in recent years originates in Mexico and Columbia with smaller quantities originating in South East Asia (the Golden Triangle) and South West Asia (Afghanistan and Pakistan). Columbian and Mexican drug cartels dominate the distribution and retail trade of heroin in the United States.

Amphetamine Type Stimulants (Methamphetamine, Ecstasy, and Amphetamine)

Global trafficking of synthetic drugs, i.e., Amphetamine type stimulants (ats) has increased at a greater rate than other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. This is reflected in the 10-fold increase in the worldwide ats seizures in the period from 1990 to 2000. Although seizures of ats have declined in 2001 and 2002 (as compared to the peak in 2000) they were still six times higher than in 1990, showing a strong market for such drugs.

Out of the three ats drugs, methamphetamine is the dominant drug by far in terms of production, trafficking and consumption (about 80%), followed by Ecstasy (15%) and amphetamine (5%). Most methamphetamine seizures in 2002 were made in the East and South East Asia (87% of all seizures) and North America (13%). Country-wise, the largest methamphetamine seizures in 2002 occurred in Thailand (57%), China (21%), the U.S.A. (7%) and Myanmar (6%). The main source countries for the drug are Myanmar (the major supplier to Thailand), China, and the Philippines for Asia and the United States and Mexico for North America. Trafficking of methamphetamine to Europe is negligible although more than 90% of global amphetamine seizures in 2001/2002 were in Europe. The main source countries for amphetamine are Netherlands, Poland and Belgium.

Trafficking of Ecstasy has shown a clear upward trend in the 1990s. In the early 90s, almost all of Ecstasy seizures were reported from Europe but in recent years the drug has spread globally. In 2002, the bulk of ecstasy seizures occurred in Europe (62%) but were also reported from North America (19%), Oceania (9%) and East/South East Asia (6%). Belgium, Netherlands, the UK, USA, and China are notable among the countries where ecstasy was seized in significant quantities recently. Netherlands is the biggest producer of the drug, but most trafficking of ecstasy from Europe to the U.S. is carried out by Israeli and Dominican criminal groups while Chinese drug traders control in trafficking to China.