DRUG SMUGGLING

The illegal drug trade is a global black market, competing with legal drug trade,
dedicated to cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are
subject to drug prohibition laws. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license,
of many types of drugs by drug prohibition laws.

A UN report said the global drug trade generated an estimated US$321.6 billion in 2003.
With a world GDP of US$36 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be
estimated as slightly less than 1% of total global commerce. Consumption of illegal drugs
is widespread globally.

History
The illegal drug trade has arisen as a result of drug prohibition laws. In the First Opium
War the Chinese authorities had banned opium but the United Kingdom forced the
country to allow British merchants to trade in opium with the general population.
Smoking opium had become common in the 19th century due to increasing importation
via British merchants. Trading in opium was (as it is today in the heroin trade) extremely
lucrative. As a result of this illegal trade an estimated two million Chinese people became
addicted to the drug. The British Crown (via the treaties of Nanking and Tianjin) took
vast sums of money from the Chinese government through this illegal trade which they
referred to as "reparations".

Mafia groups limited their activities to gambling and theft until 1920, when organized
bootlegging manifested in response to the effect of prohibition. An example of the
spectacular rise of the mafia due to Prohibition is Al Capone's syndicate that "ruled"
Chicago in the 1920s. The official rise of drug trade started in 1954. The peak of drug
selling was in 1979.

In jurisdictions where legislation restricts or prohibits the sale of certain popular drugs, it
is common for an illegal drug trade to develop. For example, the United States Congress
has identified a number of controlled substances with corresponding drug trades.

Legal drugs like tobacco can also be the subject of smuggling and illegal trading if the
price difference between the origin and the destination are high enough to make it
profitable. With taxes on tobacco much higher in the United Kingdom than on mainland
Europe this is a considerable problem in the UK. Also, it is illegal to sell/give tobacco or
alcohol to minors, which is considered smuggling throughout most first-world countries.

Most nations consider drug trafficking a very serious problem. In 1989, the United States
intervened in Panama with the goal of disrupting the drug trade. The Indian government
has several covert operations in the Middle East and Indian subcontinent to keep a track
of various drug dealers. Some estimates placed the value of the global trade in illegal
drugs at around US$400 billion in the year 2000; that, added to the global trade value of
legal drugs at the same time, totals to an amount higher than the amount of money spent
for food in the same period of time. In the 2005 United Nations World Drug Report, the
value of the global illicit drug market for the year 2003 was estimated at US$13 billion at
the production level, at US$94 billion at the wholesale level, and at US$322 billion based
on retail prices and taking seizures and other losses into account.

Major consumer countries include the United States and European nations, although
consumption is world-wide. Major producer countries include Afghanistan (opium),
Bolivia (primarily cocaine), and Colombia (primarily cocaine).

Sometimes the goods are hidden in the bag or vehicle of an innocent person, who does
not know about this, and the goods are retrieved after crossing the border. Other methods
of smuggling include hiding the goods in a vehicle, luggage or clothes, strapping them to
one's body, or using the body as container. The latter is mainly applied for heroin and
cocaine, and sometimes for ecstasy. It is often done by swallowing latex balloons (such
as condoms, or fingers of latex gloves) or special pellets filled with the goods, and
recovering them from the feces later (such a smuggler is called a “balloon swallower” or
“internal carrier”; the practice is also called “body packing” or “body stuffing”). It is a
common but medically dangerous way of smuggling small amounts of drugs: such a
"mule" may well die when a packet bursts or leaks. With regard to traffic from South
America to the U.S., the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports: "Unlike cocaine,
heroin is often smuggled by people who swallow large numbers of small capsules (50-
90), allowing them to transport up to 1.5 kilograms of heroin per courier. However,
elsewhere cocaine is also smuggled this way.

Efforts to prevent drug trafficking include the use of X-rays at airports and border control
points to check for drug pellets. In 2003, statistics confirmed that over 50 percent of
foreign females in UK jails were drug mules from Jamaica. Nigerian women also make a
large contribution to the remaining figure. In all, around 18 percent of the UK's female
jail population is foreigners, and sixty percent of them are serving sentences for drug
related offenses—most of them drug mules.

Smuggling tunnel

Smuggling tunnels are secret tunnels, usually hidden underground, used for smuggling
of goods and people. The practise began in 17th century Cornwall, England and has
continued all over the world. The term is also used where the tunnels are legitimate
responses to aggression or siege e.g. during the siege of Sarajevo.

Smuggling tunnel in Sarajevo, Bosnia

During the Siege of Sarajevo a tunnel underneath the no-man's land of the city's (closed)
airport provided a vital smuggling link for the beleaguered city residents. Guns were
smuggled into the city and (at what critics said were exploitively high rates) people were
smuggled out.
It features in the British film "Welcome to Sarajevo" and a similar tunnel in an unknown
city, but likely Belgrade features in the dark Serbian satire of conflict "Underground".

Smuggling tunnels in Rafah, Gaza Strip

Gaza Strip smuggling tunnels connect Egypt and the Gaza Strip, bypassing the Egypt-
Gaza Strip barrier built by Israel along the international border established by the Israel-
Egypt Peace Treaty. The tunnels pass under the Philadelphi corridor an area specified in
the Oslo accords as being under Israeli military control, in order to secure the border with
Egypt.

U.S.-Canadian drug smuggling tunnel

In early 2005, a group of Canadian drug-smugglers took up the idea, and constructed a
tunnel between a greenhouse in Langley, British Columbia and the basement of a house
in Lynden, Washington, which lay across the ditch marking the United States-Canada
border (the house on the Langley side was on 0 Avenue ("Zero Avenue"), which runs
parallel to the border and is the baseline of Langley's avenue-numbering system). They
bought the two properties and began construction work. Authorities were alerted when a
neighbor noticed the large-scale construction work being undertaken in the greenhouse.
On inspection, it was apparent that tons of construction material was entering, and piles
of dirt were coming out.

It became known within a short time by both American and Canadian border authorities
that a tunnel was being built. Video and audio devices were installed secretly by customs
officials both at the termini and in the tunnel itself.

On July 14, the tunnel having been completed, the first packs of marijuana began going
through. Officials raided the home soon after and arrested the three men. They then
appeared before court in Seattle.

U.S.-Mexican smuggling tunnels

On January 25, 2006, the largest smuggling tunnel to date was found on the US-Mexico
border by a joint U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, and U.S. Border Patrol task force. The 2400-foot-long (720m) tunnel runs
from a warehouse near the Tijuana airport to a warehouse in San Diego. When
discovered, it was devoid of people, but it did contain 2 tons of marijuana. It was 5 feet
high and up to 90 feet deep. The floor was made of cement and the walls were exposed
clay, with lights lining one side, a ventilation system to keep fresh air circulating, and a
water drainage system to remove infiltrating ground water. Authorities said it was unclear
how long the tunnel had been in operation.

On January 30, U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agents arrested a Mexican
Citizen, who was linked to the tunnel via the U.S. warehouse, operated by V&F
Distributors LLC. On the Friday before, January 27, immigration authorities reportedly
received information that the Mexican cartel behind the operation was threatening the
lives of any agents involved with the construction or occupation of the tunnel. US
Customs and Immigration, however, pledged to protect them as best they can. Authorities
believe Tijuana's Arellano-Felix drug syndicate, or some other well-known drug cartel,
was behind the building and operation of the tunnel.

On November 26, 2010, a 2,600 foot (800m) tunnel was discovered linking Tijuana to
Otay Mesa, California.

Drug Smuggling In Pakistan

he Pakistani Taliban gets its funding from a variety of sources: ‘taxes’ on the timber and
gems trade, extorting small businessmen, kidnapping, and bank robberies. But drugs are
undoubtedly a major component of finances.

Gretchen Peters, a journalist formerly with ABC News, has written an excellent book on
what’s generally described as the Afghan drug trade. But, as she demonstrates quite
effectively, defining the industry as Afghan is inaccurate—it is a regional phenomenon.
Drug profiteers have achieved a level of integration between actors across multiple
Central and Southwest Asian states that regional economic pacts have failed to. Linked
together are Afghan peasants, security officials, leading politicians (e.g. Hamid Karzai’s
brother), and insurgents, as well as border guards, smugglers, politicians, and intelligence
services in Iran and Pakistan, and a variety of actors in Gulf Arab emirates.

In one of the best displays of how drugs brings together disparate actors, Peters reveals
that Abdur Rashid Dostum, an Afghan Uzbek warlord (secular and anti-Taliban, albeit
barbaric), has been “in cahoots” with terrorist groups such as Tahir Yuldashev’s Islamic
Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and (prior to his death) renegade Afghan Taliban Mullah
Dadullah.  Interestingly, both Yuldashev and Dadullah give Dostum only one degree of
separation from Baitullah Mehsud.  [And Abdullah Mehsud surrended to Dostum's
militia in December 2001.]

What brings all these actors together is cash.  Peters writes: “Across Afghanistan,
traditional enemies are working together wherever there’s a chance to make money.”
Drugs are also, in a sense, a form of currency used by militants to barter for vehicles and
weapons.

In Pakistan, the drug trade has linkages to Afghan militants based there, Baloch leaders,
tangential politicians, the military-intelligence establishment (though this peaked in the
1980s), and possibly even the Karachi Stock Exchange (used for money laundering).  The
problem in Pakistan at times has been that one arm of the state has been working to root
out the drug trade, while the other hand has used the trade to fund its clandestine
activities.  

Pakistan has effectively eliminated poppy growth inside its territory, but it is the major
transit point for Afghan drugs.  The deleterious impact of the drug trade comes in the
form of the syringes that wash up on the Karachi shores, the subsuming illicit trade via
Afghanistan that denies Pakistan over a billion dollars in annual duties revenue, and the
terrorists that have been murdering innocent Pakistanis in recent years.

So how can the drug trade be neutralized?  Peters recommends a nine-pronged program
to combat the regional drug trade.  Contrary to what one might expect, eradiction of
poppy crops is proposed only as a last ditch option.  Peters’ solution is smart — the
toughest action is reserved for the drug smugglers, not the impoverished farmers.
Starting with eradication would likely only serve to boost the price of heroin, benefitting
drug smugglers while enraging rural Afghans.  The Afghan Taliban, as Peters shows, is
quite adept at market manipulation.  Its remarkable success in eradication in its last two
years in power was not combined with eliminating the enormous heroin stockpiles; this
only resulted in a massive increase in heroin prices, hurting farmers while increasing
Afghan drug dealers’ and Taliban profits.   

Peters’ reporting depends heavily on U.S. intelligence reports provided to her. It seems as
if the worst wrongdoing the U.S. can commit is apathy. That could be true, but Peters’
readers would be better served by a more direct engagement with questions surrounding
the historic and present U.S. connection to the drug trade in Afghanistan and nearby.

Seeds of Terror is a quick and engaging primer on the drug trade emanating from
Afghanistan a primary cause for regional instability and state weakness.

Effects of illegal drug trade

The countries of drug production have been seen as the worst affected by global drug
trade.

Even so, countries receiving the illegally-imported are also affected by problems
stemming from drug trade. For example, Ecuador has allegedly absorbed up to 300,000
refugees from Colombia who are running from guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug lords,
says Linda Helfrich. While some applied for asylum, others are still illegal, and the drugs
that pass from Colombia through Ecuador to other parts of South America create
economic and social problems.

Violent crime

In many countries worldwide, the illegal drug trade is thought to be directly linked to
violent crimes such as murder; this is especially true in third world countries, but is also
an issue for many developed countries worldwide. In the late 1990s in the United States,
for example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation estimated that 5% of murders were
drug-related. However, after a crackdown by U.S. and Mexican authorities in the first
decade of the 21st century (part of tightened borders security in the wake of the
September 11 attacks), border violence inside Mexico surged, with the Mexican
government estimating that 90% of the killings are drug-related.

Pakistan is today notorious for many things, but in the last 20 years, drug production and
addiction has increasingly become just one of them. The issue of drug addiction is often
overshadowed by the many of the country's other human development problems, such as
poverty, illiteracy and lack of basic health care. But the fact is, drug abuse is rapidly
growing in Pakistan and in South Asia in general. While Bangladesh, India, Nepal and
Maldives all suffer from this, Pakistan is the worst victim of the drug trade in South Asia.
Today, the country has the largest heroin consumer market in the south-west Asia region.
It wasn't always this way. Pakistan became a major exporter of heroin in the 1980s,
following the influx of Afghan refugees escaping the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in
1979.

The major consequence of this has been a significant increase in domestic consumption
of heroin in Pakistan. Heroin was once upon a time a drug which was virtually unknown
in the country until the late 1970s. Today, Pakistan is not only one of the main exporters
of heroin, it has also become a net importer of drugs. It is estimated that about 50 tons of
opium are smuggled into Pakistan for processing heroin for domestic use. Almost 80
percent of the opium processed in Pakistan comes from neighboring countries.

Widespread drug abuse may be indicated by the fact that almost five percent of the adult
population is using drugs in Pakistan. As a proportion of drug abusers, heroin users have
increased from 7.5 percent in 1983 to a shocking 51 percent a decade later in 1993. Drug
production for Pakistan's domestic market is estimated at close to $1.5 billion. It appears
that only three percent of the gross profits from the illegal opium industry remain within
Pakistan. Like many of the country's other human development problems, the issue of
drug abuse touches the most vulnerable: the majority of drug users in South Asia belong
to the poorest strata of society. In addition, the presence of a large drug industry in
Pakistan leads to a redistribution of income from the poor to a few rich individuals who
control the drug trade. This not only makes the gap between the rich and the poor as well
as income inequality even worse, it also erodes Pakistan's social cohesion and stability.

Although almost all South Asian countries have enacted strict laws for fighting drug
trafficking and drug use, these measures have produced very disappointing results. One
problem is that corruption has also touched the fight against drug abuse in Pakistan and
other South Asian countries, since drug traffickers often escape punishment by giving
bribes to get out of being held accountable for their actions. But Pakistan is not alone in
fighting this disease. With the globalization of the drug abuse problem in the last two
decades, the situation has gone from bad to worse, so much so that the United Nations
Commission on narcotic drugs no longer discusses individual situations. It has argued
that the solution does not lie in the hands of individual countries. It has to be worked out
through mutual efforts by South Asian countries.

War on Drugs
Mexico has received USD$1.6 billion and strategic support from the United States
through the Mérida Initiative

The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid being
undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating
countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade. This initiative
includes a set of drug policies of the United States that are intended to discourage the
production, distribution, and consumption of illegal psychoactive drugs. The term "War
on Drugs" was first used by President Richard Nixon on June 17, 1971.

On May 13, 2009, Gil Kerlikowske, the current Director of the Office of National Drug
Control Policy, signaled that although it did not plan to significantly alter drug
enforcement policy, the Obama administration would not use the term "War on Drugs,"
as he claims it is "counter-productive"

Foreign policy and covert military activities

Some critics have condemned the phrase "War on Drugs" as being propaganda to justify
military or paramilitary operations under the guise of a noble cause. Others have argued
that large amounts of "drug war" foreign aid money, training, and equipment actually
goes to fighting leftist insurgencies and is often provided to groups who themselves are
involved in large-scale narco-trafficking, such as corrupt members of the Colombian
military.

Operation Intercept

One of the first anti-drug efforts in the realm of foreign policy was President Nixon's
Operation Intercept, announced in September 1969, targeted at reducing the amount of
cannabis entering the United States from Mexico. The effort began with an intense
inspection crackdown that resulted in an almost shutdown of cross-border traffic.[36]
Because the burden on border crossings was controversial in border states, the effort only
lasted twenty days.
Public support and opposition
Further information: Arguments for and against drug prohibition

The War on Drugs has been a highly contentious issue since its inception.

A poll on October 2, 2008, found that three in four Americans believed that the War On
Drugs was failing.

Critics cite a large number of unnecessary deaths and imprisonments, increased levels of
violent crime and gang activity, wasted government funds, violation of civil liberties,
lack of public support, illegality of current drug policies, environmental destruction from
drug eradication programs, lack of effectiveness, and a number of other issues.

Supporters claim that the War on Drugs is effective, protects families and communities,
makes people more productive, and that social conditions are better as a result of it.

Socio-economic effects
Cyclic creation of permanent underclass

1 million people are incarcerated every year in the United States for drug law violations.

Some authors maintain that the War on Drugs has resulted in the creation of a permanent
underclass of people who have few educational or job opportunities, often as a result of
being punished for drug offenses which in turn have resulted from attempts to earn a
living in spite of having no education or job opportunities.

Penalties for drug crimes among youth almost always involve permanent or semi-
permanent removal from opportunities for education, strip them of voting rights, and later
involve creation of criminal records which make employment far more difficult.
Costs to taxpayers

A 2008 study by Harvard economist Jeffrey A. Miron has estimated that legalizing drugs
would inject $76.8 billion a year into the U.S. economy — $44.1 billion from law
enforcement savings, and at least $32.7 billion in tax revenue ($6.7 billion from
marijuana, $22.5 billion from cocaine and heroin, remainder from other drugs). Recent
surveys help to confirm the consensus among economists to reform drug policy in the
direction of decriminalization and legalization.

Impact on growers

The status of coca and coca growers has become an intense political issue in several
countries, including Colombia and particularly Bolivia, where the president, Evo
Morales, a former coca growers' union leader, has promised to legalise the traditional
cultivation and use of coca.

The coca eradication policy has been criticised for its negative impact on the livelihood
of coca growers in South America. In many areas of South America the coca leaf has
traditionally been chewed and used in tea and for religious, medicinal and nutritional
purposes by locals. For this reason many insist that the illegality of traditional coca
cultivation is unjust. In many areas the US government and military has forced the
eradication of coca without providing for any meaningful alternate crop for farmers, and
has additionally destroyed many of their food or market crops, leaving them starving and
destitute.