Drug Trafficking
Kevin Ware
ENG 122: English Composition II
Instructor Paul Wiltz
May 7, 2012
Drug trafficking is a huge problem in the United States and has been for many years. Drug trafficking is one of the most profitable illegal businesses in the world. Many people have become extremely wealthy due to the business of illegal drug trafficking. Drug trafficking is one of the most common and profitable organized crime operation in the United States. Over 32% of all inmates in State Prisons in the United States were either under the influence of drugs or in possession of drugs when arrested (that number is above 25% for federal prison inmates).
I also plan to discuss some solutions that I believe will help slow drug trafficking in the United States.
Drug trafficking in the United States is a problem that cannot be stopped. It has been a problem in the country for many years and will continue to be a problem. It all starts with the Southwest Border of the United States. The Southwest border of the United States is the principal arrival zone for most of the illicit drugs smuggled into the United States, as well as the predominant staging area for the drugs’ subsequent distribution throughout the country. According to El Paso Intelligence Center drug seizure data, most of the cocaine, foreign-source marijuana and methamphetamine, and Mexican-source heroin available in the United States is smuggled into the country across the southwest border. The southwest border is particularly vulnerable to drug smuggling because of the enormous volume of people and goods legitimately crossing the border between the two countries every day. Moreover, large sections of the nearly 2,000-mile land border between Mexico and the United States are both vast and remote, and this provides additional smuggling opportunities for Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations. Once at the border, Mexican traffickers use every method imaginable to smuggle drugs into this country including aircraft, backpackers, couriers, horses and mules, maritime vessels, rail, tunnels, and vehicles (Drug Enforcement Agency, n.d.).
The Term Paper on The Power of Drugs and their Influence on a Weak Country
... marijuanaAt the end of the 60's Colombia was a country with no drug trafficking but with socio-political unrest with the presence of ... in Colombia began exporting small quantities of cocaine to the United States hidden in suitcases. At that point, cocaine could be ... began searching for similar drugs like the Asian hashish they'd tried in Vietnam across the Mexican border. Marijuana appeared and it ...
There are millions of dollars made in this country ever year due to drug trafficking. Drug dealers have planes, boats, jets, and all kinds of unique ways of getting drugs into this country. They even dig tunnels under ground to transport drugs. Each year, according to the U.S. Customs Service, 60 million people enter the United States on more than 675,000 commercial and private flights. Another 6 million come by sea and 370 million by land. In addition, 116 million vehicles cross the land borders with Canada and Mexico. More than 90,000 merchant and passenger ships dock at U.S. ports. These ships carry more than 9 million shipping containers and 400 million tons of cargo. Another 157,000 smaller vessels visit our many coastal towns. Amid this voluminous trade, drug traffickers conceal cocaine, heroin, marijuana, MDMA, and methamphetamine shipments for distribution in U.S. neighborhoods (May 2004).
Cocaine is among the most powerful drugs in the world. Although the cocaine trade has been a problem for many years, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Government of Cuba (GOC) has made great progress in reducing it. Cuba has continued to demonstrate a commitment to fulfilling its responsibilities as a signatory to the 1988 United Nations Convention based on adherence to the Convention’s Articles. Specifically, Cuba has criminalized drug related offenses as outlined in Article Three; including 39 judicial agreements with partner nations regarding judicial proceedings and extradition. Furthermore, in accordance with Article Nine, the GOC has continued to exhibit counter narcotics cooperation with partner nations. The GOC reports having 32 counterdrug bilateral agreements and two memoranda of understandings (MOU) for counterdrug cooperation (March 7, 2012).
The Term Paper on Gateway Drugs Drug Cocaine Lsd
Gateway Drugs and Common Drug Abuse The oldest known written record of drug use is a clay tablet from the ancient Sumerian civilization of the Middle East. This tablet, made in the 2000's B. C. , lists about a dozen drug prescriptions. An Egyptian scroll from bout 1550 B. C. names more than 800 prescriptions containing about 700 drugs. The ancient Chinese, Greek and Romans also used many drugs. ...
Cocaine trafficking and abuse continue to threaten the health and safety of American citizens. According to drug abuse indicators, the use of both powder and crack cocaine has stabilized, albeit at high levels. The trafficking, distribution, and abuse of cocaine and crack cocaine have spread from urban environments to smaller cities and suburban areas of the country, bringing a commensurate increase in violence and criminal activity. The level of violence associated with cocaine trafficking today, however, does not compare to the rampant violence of the 1980s when the crack epidemic was at its worst (May 2004).
I feel that crack cocaine is a huge reason that we have the problems that we have in this country today in our community. Most of the violence in this country is contributed mostly to drugs. It has broken up many homes, it has cause heart ache and pain many families and friends in this country. Drugs have greatly affected the minorities in this country. During the height of the war on drugs, from 1986 to 1991, the number of white drug offenders in state prisons increased by 110 percent. The number of black drug offenders grew by 465 percent. African-Americans account for about 14 percent of the nation’s drug users, yet they make up 35 percent of those arrested for drug possession, 55 percent of those convicted for drug possession, and 74 percent of those sentenced to serve time. For some minorities turning to drugs is an easy way to make fast cash and in some communities it is considered the thing to do because there is nothing else that they can do.
Heroin is readily available in many U.S. cities as evidenced by the unprecedented high level of average retail, or street-level, purity. Criminals in four foreign source areas produce the heroin available in the United States: South America (Colombia), Southeast Asia (principally Burma), Mexico, and Southwest Asia/Middle East (principally Afghanistan).
While virtually all heroin produced in Mexico and South America is destined for the U.S. market, each of the four source areas has dominated the U.S. market at some point over the past 30 years. Over the past decade, the United States has experienced a dramatic shift in the heroin market from the domination of Southeast Asian heroin to a dominance of the wholesale and retail markets by South American heroin, especially in the East. In the West, by contrast, “black tar” and, to a lesser extent, brown powdered heroin from Mexico have been, and continue to be, the predominant available form (Drug Enforcement Agency, n.d.).
The Term Paper on Drug Trafficking From Mexico To The United States
The media represents Mexico drug scene as a replica of the Colombian Model. Mexico did not begin to traffic drugs until sixty years ago before the Colombians decided to get into the trade. There are two different political systems in both countries; the history and the structural relationship of the drug traffickers to the political powers in Mexico. Where did drug trafficking begin and exactly ...
In 2001, approximately 8,000 clandestine methamphetamine laboratories were seized and reported to the National Clandestine Laboratory Database at the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC).
In 2001, 298 seized super labs were reported to EPIC. This represents a rise in the number of superlabs from 2000, in which the total number of superlabs totaled 168. Further, for all of calendar year 2000, the Tijuana Residence Office (TJRO) reported only two seized methamphetamine laboratories. During calendar year 2001, the number of clandestine laboratories seized in Baja California Norte increased substantially, with 24 clandestine laboratories seized as of December 2001. The majority of these laboratories have been seized in the cities of Tijuana and Mexicali. Due to the proximity of these laboratories to the United States, it is believed that the majority of the methamphetamine was bound for the United States (Drug Enforcement Agency, n.d.).
Meth is another drug that is having a negative effect on our country. It is a drug that is not only affecting the inner city, but it is affecting the rural area of the country too. More and more meth labs are being found everyday and it is becoming an even larger problem. The reason for the increase in whites going to prison and decrease of blacks in American prisons could be due to the meth epidemic. In 1999, 145,000 blacks were doing time in state prisons for drug offenses; by 2005, that number had declined by 22% to 113,500. At the same time, the number of white drug war prisoners jumped 43%, from 50,000 in 1999 to more than 72,000 in 2005.
Drug trafficking happens all over this country. It even happens in places like Colorado. S. Circuit Court Judge David M. Ebel to serve 192 months (16 years) in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, including 50 grams or more of actual methamphetamine, 500 grams or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine, and 50 kilograms or less of marijuana. Following his 16 year prison sentence, Velasquez was ordered to serve 5 years on supervised release. On April 21, 2010, Velasquez and twelve other defendants were indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver. Velasquez pled guilty before Judge Ebel on April 21, 2011. He was sentenced on April 24, 2012. The cases against co-defendants of Velasquez have been resolved with the exception of two, who remain fugitives (2012, April 27).
The Essay on Drug Control in Central Asia
This video talks about Central Asia’s drug control problem and how they are not very well equipped to deal with this issue. This video addresses policy issues. These countries do not have the means to control their drug problem. One major factor is heroin coming from Afghanistan. Countries surrounding Afghanistan have a very high rate of heroin abuse. These abusers could be a productive part of ...
It’s a very tough problem to stop because all of the money that the drugs bring in allow even some of the professional that are assigned to stop drug trafficking also contribute to it. Two former and two current Transportation Security Administration screeners at Los Angeles International Airport have been arrested on federal narcotics trafficking and bribery charges for allegedly taking cash payments to allow large shipments of cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana to pass through the X-ray machines at TSA security checkpoints.
In addition to the current and former TSA officials, one drug courier is currently in state custody, and another drug courier is expected to surrender tomorrow. Authorities are continuing to search for another alleged drug courier named in a 22-count grand jury indictment that was unsealed this morning.
The indictment outlines five specific incidents in which current and former TSA employees took payments of as much as $2,400 to allow suitcases filled with drugs to pass through X-ray machines while TSA screeners looked the other way.
Drug trafficking is not something that can easily fix. It is going to take a lot of money and a lot of team work between the United States and Mexico to get this problem under control. The fact that drugs bring in so much money leads me to believe that there will be a solution to this epidemic. The money from the drug trade is so great that there will always be bribery and dishonesty which will make it very difficult to stop (2012, April 28).
The Term Paper on Drug Trafficking Of College Students In United States
Drug Trafficking of College Students in the United States: Are Parents and Academics responsible to stop it? Drug dealing on college campuses currently presents one of the most challenging problems on the US social and legal agenda. The cases of drug trafficking are serious and require immediate attention from the responsible bodies. The tendency of drug dealings on college campuses is increasing ...
References
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (n.d.) U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control Washington, D.C. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/drug-trafficking
Drug Enforcement Agency (n.d.) Drug Trafficking Penalties. Retrieved from http://www.justice.gov/dea
US Drug Enforcement Agency (May 2004) Drug Trafficking in the United States. Retrieved from .
CNN (April 16, 2009) Drug smugglers becoming more creative Retrieved from
Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (March 7, 2012) http://www.state.gov/j/inl/rls/nrcrpt/2012/vol1/184099.htm
TSA SCREENERS AT LAX ARRESTED ON FEDERAL DRUG TRAFFICKING AND CORRUPTION CHARGES FOR ALLEGEDLY TAKING CASH PAYMENTS TO ALLOW MULTI-KILOGRAM QUANTITIES OF NARCOTICS TO PASS THROUGH SECURITY. (2012, April 27).
US Fed News Service, Including US State News, Retrieved April 29, 2012, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 2645281131
GREELEY MAN SENTENCED TO 16 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR DRUG TRAFFICKING. (2012, April 28).
US Fed News Service, Including US State News, Retrieved April 29, 2012, from ProQuest Central. (Document ID: 2645978371