Drug Trafficking Between Country - Coursework Example

Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………… 3 Background…………………………………………………………………. 3 Statement of the Problem…………………………………………………… 4 Purpose and Aims of the Study……………………………………………. 5 Research Questions and Objectives……………………………………….. 5 Literature Review…………………………………………………………………… 5 History of drug trafficking…………………………………………………. 6 Global Routes……………………………………………………………….. 6 Effects of Illicit trade on Society…………………………………………… 8 Violent Crime……………………………………………………………….. 8 Cocaine Routes through West Africa……………………………………… 9 Cannabis……………………………………………………………………. 10 Heroin……………………………………………………………………….. 10 Research Design…………………………………………………………………….. 11 Sample………………………………………………………………………. 11 Procedure for Data collection……………………………………………… 11 Instruments Used…………………………………………………………………… 11 Questionnaires……………………………………………………………… 11 Surveys……………………………………………………………………… 12 Secondary Research……………………………………………………………….. 12 Data Analysis………………………………………………………………………. 12 Research Design and existing literature………………………………………….. 12 Action Plan…………………………………………………………………………. 13 Expected Outcome…………………………………………………………………. 16 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………... 17 Drug Trafficking Between Countries 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background Drug smuggling is the process of taking drugs across boundaries of regions and states or borders of countries (Bauder, 2007, 66). Drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, heroin, MDMA and methamphetamine are normally produced and manufactured in a particular place in the world and ferried to other parts of the world by organized crime and established drug syndicates. Drug smuggling has become a subject of research for many researchers in the last few decades. Questions about the cultivation, trafficking, use, effects and profits from drugs have caused people to create strategies to fight drug trafficking. The effect of illegal drugs on people and society has become a concern for authorities (Bauder, 2007, p. 68). Although there are severe laws that have been enacted to prevent drug smuggling, the trafficking and trade in drugs continues to flourish around the world. International drug traffickers smuggle drugs illegally between different countries. Drug trafficking results in many problems such as drug abuse and many countries describe it as a global crisis. Common drugs that are trafficked around the world such as cocaine, heroine and marijuana among others result in severe addiction and harm on the body of a human being and this is the main reason why these drugs are considered illegal in many countries (United Nations Publications 2002, p. 10). Due to this addiction there is a continuous demand which sustains a very profitable business of trafficking and selling huge amounts of illegal drugs. Countries strive to deal with this problem by way of creating policies against the crisis. Drug cartels look for other methods of doing their illegal trade. Drug traffickers have various routes that seem safe to them because through these routes they can easily operate undetected by law enforcers. In most of the cases they collude with law enforcers and leaders in countries where these routes lie in order to have their activities covered (Sherman, 2010, p. 89). Researchers have discovered the relationship between drugs and ill health, crime and terrorism, existence of asylum seekers and instability in society. However, there are several gaps in knowledge about drug trafficking since research is needed into the smuggling routes of drugs, reasons for drug trafficking, ways of combating drug trafficking, laws for combating drug trafficking and the methods of detecting drug trafficking in various parts of the world. 1.2 Statement of the Problem 1 Drug trafficking is an issue that the world is being forced to battle with because of its effects on the society. Drug trafficking is a trade that is illegally carried out by drug smugglers because of its huge profits. Illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin have bad effects on the health of human beings and the money they fetch contributes to the thriving of terrorism, crime and criminal gangs among other negative effects (Powell, Shone, & Killerby, 1997, p. 44). Researchers have not been able to find out all about drug trafficking. For example, little is known about the amount of profits made by drug traffickers. Some of the routes used to smuggle these drugs are unclear and the way crime syndicates operate is still under cover. Drug smuggling between countries is a major international problem especially to the countries affected by consumption, cultivation and production of drugs and trade in those drugs. Drug traffickers present a huge problem to authorities and even though laws have been enacted by various countries to curb the vice, drug traffickers still carry on with their trade (Gross, 1992, p. 23). Drug trafficking is now described as a global crisis. The lucrative trade is growing and its effects are affecting many more people. Drug traffickers have devised methods of evading the law and creating new routes for transporting the illegal drugs. The drug business has even become more complicated to control because influential people in society such as army generals and senior police officers take bribes from criminals. Research is therefore needed into the activities of drug traffickers including the places they produce the drugs, how they smuggle them, how the law can be used to track them down, the profits they make and the effects of drug trafficking on the world among other things. 1.3 Purpose of Study The purpose of this study is to reveal a lot of hidden information on the illegal business of drug trafficking between countries. In order to accomplish this, the study will focus on the below objectives. The objectives of the study are: To find out the major drug smuggling routes To find out the reasons for drug smuggling To find out ways of combating drug trafficking To find out about the most important international laws for combating drug trafficking and, To compare the methods used for detecting drug traffickers in the United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. 1.4 Research Questions 1. What are the major drug smuggling routes? 2. What are the reasons for drug smuggling? 3. How to combat drug trafficking? 4. What are the most important international laws to combat drug trafficking? 5. Comparison between methods of detecting drug trafficking between the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. 2.0 Literature Review 2.1 History of drug trafficking The prohibition of addictive drugs was done in the 19th and 20th centuries. In the 19th century, trade in illicit drugs started. China reacted to this by importing opium and as a result two wars started. In the first war on opium, China banned opium but because of pressure from the UK the Chinese population was allowed by the authorities in China to buy opium (Bauder 2007, p. 113). Opium smoking was a common thing during the 19th century and the volume of trade between the Chinese and British merchants greatly increased. Opium trade was as lucrative as the heroine of today. Many organizations, for example, the Central Intelligence Agency of the US provide funds for proxy wars and covert operations from trade in drugs on the black market. This is because these drugs are a ready source for secretive money (Chouvy, 2009, p. 62). 2.2 Global routes According to Gross (1992, p. 33) drug trafficking is a worldwide illegal trade that involves cultivating, manufacturing, distributing and selling substances that are classified as illegal under drug prohibition laws. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime continuously monitors and does research on illicit markets for drugs around the world so that they can get a clearer understanding of the dynamics of these markets. Currently, the consumption of heroin in the world is at 340 tons. This total consumption and annual heroin seizures represent a yearly transportation of 430 to 450 tons of heroin into the world heroin market. Of this total, opium is produced in Myanmar and the Lao People’s Democratic Republic produces 50 tons while the remaining approximately 380 tons of morphine and heroin comes from opium in Afghanistan (Powell, Shone, & Killerby 1997, 151). While about 5 tons are seized and consumed by people in Afghanistan, the other part of about 375 tons is illegally transported to other countries through routes going into and via countries that border Afghanistan. The major corridors for heroin trafficking are the northern and Balkan routes. These routes connect Afghanistan with the major markets of the Russian Federation and the countries of Western Europe. The Balkan route goes through Pakistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria, through South East Europe and into the market of Western Europe. It has a yearly market value of $ 20 billion. The northern route goes through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan all the way to Kazakhstan and into the Russian Federation. The market is believed to have a size of about $ 13 billion per annum. Drug smuggling in most countries has huge penalties such as long incarceration periods, death penalties and flogging. Many countries regard drug trafficking as the worst offence among all drug offences in the world (Sherman 2010, p. 321). In 2008, heroin seizures throughout the world were 73.7 metric tons. The seizure of the biggest portion of these drugs was in the Near East, Middle East and South West Asia. This seizure amounted to 39% of the total in the whole world. The seizure in South East Europe accounted for 24% while that of Central Europe was only 10% (Sherman 2010, p. 321). At the global level, more than 200 million people use drugs on a yearly basis. The demand for drugs including heroine and cocaine has always been high and this is the main reason why drug trafficking is perpetual. The seizure of cocaine around the globe is about 100 tons every year through the tireless efforts of world bodies charged with law enforcement. Farmers involved in growing of opium do not gain much profit from it compared to those who do the distribution. The huge demand for illicit drugs on the global market and the profits made from the manufacture of these drugs, their trafficking and sale are the main reasons as to why people get interested in trading in illegal drugs. Trading in drugs brings those involved many million dollars and the risks involved tend to be more than the benefits obtained by many people from the trade (Harris 2009, p. 90). 2.3 Effects of illegal trade on societies Countries in which drugs are cultivated and produced suffer the most from prohibition. Those countries that allow the substances imported through illegal means also suffer from problems resulting from the prohibition of drugs (Gonzales, McEnery, Sheehan, 1998, p. 29). For instance the Colombian refugees fleeing their country to enter Ecuador have been estimated to be more than 300, 000. They leave their country in flight because of drug loads and paramilitaries. Ecuador has granted asylum to some but others remain illegal and the drug load passing through Ecuador remains a problem. 2.4 Violent crime Gonzales et al., (1998, p. 99) argue that many people see crime as being the cause and result of poverty, poor development and lack of security. In connection to this, it is important that violence and drug trafficking be counteracted. When armed militias control the cultivation and production of drugs and when guns are traded for natural resources by crime syndicates what results from it is instability, poverty and extreme human suffering. These problems have been observed in the past in South and Central America. Other areas include the Golden Triangle, some countries in Africa and Western Asia. To add to this, there was a worrying trend of increased trafficking in drugs, organized crime and a lot of corruption in Africa and the Middle East. Harris (2009, p. 210) observes that the use of cocaine and opium in European countries had heightened. However, some good developments occurred whereby Colombia witnessed a decline of 50% in the production of coca since the year 2000. The cultivation of opium declined in Afghanistan by a margin of 21% between 2004 and 2005 (Harris 2009, p. 210). This was a break in the growth trend that had run for 4 years. The UNODC created methods for tracking the growth of opium, its cultivation and trafficking in Afghanistan. These methods were 80% accurate. In order to deal with drug trafficking, organized crime as well as human trafficking, the UNODC must take an approach that is well balanced and comprehensive in which it tackles the causes and the effects at a go. Most of the countries in the world believe that illicit trade in drugs has a linkage with violent crimes and this has been proven to be true especially in countries in Africa although is creates problems in the developed countries as well. In the US, in the 1990s, the FBI released reports showing that 5 percent of murders were related to drugs. After September 11, there was a surge in violence in Mexico and authorities estimated that 90 percent of murders were related to drugs. The drug strategy unit of the Government of the United Kingdom produced a report showing that because of the high price of cocaine and heroine, the use of drugs was to be blamed for most of the crimes (Chouvy 2009, p. 72). Because business in drugs is illegal, statistics on the amount of profits made in this drug are never revealed. In the report produced in 1997 by UNODC, it was revealed that the market value is at US 4 400 billion. 2.5 Cocaine routes through West Africa The United Nations Publications (2002, p. 14) reported that West Africa is a major route of cocaine from Venezuela, Bolivia and Colombia. It passes through Liberia, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau. Traffickers launder this money in Senegal, Nigeria and Ghana. Drug traffickers use cargo planes for transporting drugs from where they are produced into West Africa. Prior to this, cocaine was taken directly to the US by ship. Due to saturation of the market, illegal drug traders opted to increase shipping to European countries. When the authorities uncovered the drug routes, traffickers made West Africa their new stop over. In the year 2005, the police intercepted the very first main shipment of cocaine. Come 2007, 30 percent of the cocaine shipment to the United Kingdom, was believed to have its origin in West African countries. In 2009, cocaine shipment out of West Africa rose to 50 percent (Sherman 2010, p. 44). The drugs transported from West Africa are carried by drug mules, container ships, and even sub marines. Political leaders in Guinea-Bissau such as former presidents have been blamed for supporting drug traffickers. Other leaders implicated in this are the chiefs of staff in the country’s army. 2.6 Cannabis The use of canabbis for recreational purposes as well as its distribution is not allowed in most of the countries. However, it is normally given to people on prescription or recommendation in most places such as Canada and the United States. The huge demand for cannabis in the world combined with the ease of cultivating the drug makes the illegal trade in cannabis a major way of financing the activities of organized criminals. Gross (1992, p. 113) says that in Mexico, the earnings of most cartels are boosted by the illegal cannabis trafficking. The cartels therefore use it as the main way through which they get funds for their illicit activities such as buying illegal drugs to be trafficked and the weapons that cartels use to murder people especially in Latin American countries. 2.7 Heroin Up to 2004, the bigger portion of the heroin produced in the world came from the Golden Triangle, a place in South East Asia. In 2007, about 93 percent of all illegal drugs in the world were from Afghanistan. This resulted in US$64 billion worth of drugs whereby 25% was earned by farmers involved in opium cultivation while the rest went to insurgents, drug traffickers, district officials and warlords (Harris, 2009, p. 32). Mexico is another country in which poppy fields exist to provide materials for heroin manufacture. The United States Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that heroin sells at 8 to 10 times the price on cocaine in America. This shows that it fetches very high profits for those involved in smuggling and dealing in it. Heroin is preferable for trafficking because when compared to opium, it is cost effective and has increased efficacy. Smuggling of heroin is easy because of its high cost per volume (Sherman 2010, p. 156). 3.0 Research Design 3.1 Sample The sample will be made up of 122 participants who have knowledge about drug trafficking. Random sampling will be used to get these participants because they are drawn from different areas. The participants will be a mixed group including drug users, peddlers, and barons. Government officials, law enforcers and people working with institutions that combat drug trafficking were also among the participants (Punch, K. 2006, p. 12). 3.3 Procedure for data collection After obtaining consent from participants, the researcher will issue them with questionnaires having questions about the drug business. Those in far away places will receive their questionnaires through mail. More data will be collected via telephone interviews (Denscombe 2012, p. 31). For those contacted on phone, the interview will be limited to fifteen minutes. Face to face interviews will take 45 minutes each and the questionnaire will be filled in 20 minutes. 3.4 Instruments used 3.4.1 Questionnaires The questionnaire will be designed with two main parts. The first part will have space for respondents to fill in information on demography. It will have 8 questions requiring information on year of birth, gender, education level, age, occupation, income and occupation. Part two will have 10 questions about experience, involvement and knowledge about drug trafficking. Such questions will be related to experience and use of the drugs, interaction with drug barons and traffickers and efforts to combat trafficking especially for law enforcers. The questions will also touch on the reasons for drug trafficking (Denscombe 2012, p. 31). 3.4.2 Surveys The researcher will also carry out interviews on respondents. Where participants can be found, face to face interviews will be done but where they will not be found, telephone interviews will be used. Surveys are expected to gather a lot of accurate information (Denscombe 2012, p. 33). 3.5 Secondary research Data and information will also be collected from existing literature such as books, journal articles and websites and media reports. The researcher will seek to collect all relevant information from the findings of other researchers in order to complement this study. 3.6 Data Analysis The researcher will analyze the primary and secondary data separately. Primary data will be analyzed both by qualitative and quantitative means (Punch, K. 2006, p. 18). Secondary data will require that the researcher employs techniques such as careful scrutiny of the literature obtained to ascertain its relevance to the topic under investigation. Unworthy and irrelevant information will not be included in the findings of the research. 3.7 Research Design and existing literature The proposed research design will help the researcher to dig out information through surveys, questionnaires and secondary research. With this information the study will confirm and modify existing literature because the participants in the sample are well informed people. Most of the information contained in the available literature comes from institutions and organizations involved in combating drug trafficking (Punch, K. 2006, p. 61). The information was collected some times back and does not reflect the true picture of drug trafficking as it is today. In order to modify this information, the study will have direct interviews with those involved in the drug trade. Some of these people will include former drug users and addicts, drug barons and peddlers. Drug trafficking is a very sensitive issue and the ethical requirements of this research will be high. The researcher will not reveal the identity of participants to people outside of the research process and this is expected to assure them of their security. A very high level of confidentiality will be observed (Harris 2009, p. 77). The information they provide to the researcher will not be given to any security personnel and therefore, participants will be very free to share sensitive and unknown information about their activities in the drug business. The available literature may not be having up to date information about drug trafficking. This research will deny and modify some of the available literature because it will gather first hand information from the people involved in the trade. The information will also be very much up to date (Punch, K. 2006, p. 32). 4.0 Action plan Activity Weeks Week Starting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Exploring the literature Writing the literature review Reading on methodology Writing the methodology Designing the Questionnaire Collecting qualitative data Collection of quantitative data Analysis of the qualitative data Analysis of quantitative data Writing conclusion Submission of first draft Revision and submission of final draft 5.0 Expected Outcome (significance) This study is important because it will reveal so many unknown things about drug trafficking. It is also expected to confirm the findings of other researchers as elaborated in the literature review. The issue of drug trafficking is an eyesore in the law enforcement authorities of many countries. Drug traffickers are perpetuators of evil in society and through their illegal trade; they ruin the lives of many innocent people. Information on drug trafficking will be important to government authorities and officials of various countries especially where people are adversely affected by the drugs. Since drug trafficking has been declared a global crisis, everybody should be interested in the findings of this research. Scholars and other researchers should find significant due to the type of information it will be revealing. The general population will also benefit from this research because many people in the society are affected by drug trafficking one way or the other. It may be through using the drugs themselves or by becoming victims of the activities of criminals involved in the illegal drug trade. Going by the research questions, the study is expected to find out information about the major routes through which drugs are smuggled. Literature by other researchers exists about the former and new major drug smuggling routes. This study will confirm this literature and also uncover new information about these routes. It will also reveal why these routes exist yet law enforcers and relevant institutions and organizations have not been able to close them. The study is expected to confirm that the major corridors for heroin trafficking are the northern and Balkan routes. These routes connect Afghanistan with the major markets of the Russian Federation and the countries of Western Europe. The Balkan route goes through Pakistan, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria, through South East Europe and into the market of Western Europe. The northern route goes through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan or Uzbekistan or Turkmenistan all the way to Kazakhstan and into the Russian Federation. The market is believed to have a size of about $ 13 billion per annum. The study will also reveal information on other routes such as those passing through West Africa. This study will also provide information and literature about the reasons for drug trafficking. There are so many reasons why people engage in drug trafficking. Other researchers have shared information on some of these reasons. This study is expected to confirm these findings and also reveal more information on these reasons and other reasons as well. The study will show that the huge demand for drugs on the global market is the driving force behind drug trafficking. Due to addiction, there is a continuous demand which sustains a very profitable business of trafficking and selling huge amounts of illegal drugs. The findings will show that drug smuggling is a lucrative business and the money obtained from them attracts those involved in them. Criminal gangs and militia fund their terrorist activities through the production and sale of these drugs. Drug money is also obtained by influential politicians and police and army commanders in various countries for their own benefit. The study will confirm the literature produced by researchers on the ways of combating drug trafficking. It will deny and modify some of this information based on the current methods being used internationally to fight drug traffickers. It will also update this literature by other researchers on aspects that are currently being applied. Researchers have shown that there are various methods used internationally to detect drug trafficking activities. Together with this, the research will also reveal information about international laws in use today in combating drug trafficking. The study will compare the methods used to combat drug trafficking in the UAE and those used in the UK. It will show how these methods are similar and how different they are. The study will seek to prove that in many things these methods are similar in dealing with effects and causes. Drug traffickers employ the same tactics all over the world and methods used to combat their activities are not very much different. Bibliography Bauder, J. 2007. Drug Trafficking. Cengage Gale. Chouvy, P. 2009. Opium: Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy. Harvard University Press. Denscombe, M. 2012.  Research Proposals: A practical Guide: Martin Descombe. McGraw Hill International. Gonzales, M., McEnery, K., Sheehan, T. 1998. America’s Habit: Drug Abuse, Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime. DIANE Publishing. Gross, K. H. 1992. Drug Smuggling. The Forbidden Book. Paladin Press. Harris, N. 2009. Drug Trafficking.  Gareth Stevens Pub. Powell, J., Shone, R. & Killerby, F. 1997. Drug Trafficking. Millbrook Press.  Punch, K. 2006. Developing Effective Research Proposals. Sage. Sherman, J. 2010. Drug Trafficking. ABDO. United Nations Publications 2002. Drug Trafficking: Human Smuggling, Corruption, and Organized Crime. United Nations Publications. Read More