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Drug Trafficking

There was a time in life when drug trafficking did not exist, and it was simple, normal traveling going on in the world. But everyone in the world knows the United States has a major unquenchable thirst for illegal drugs coming and going. Drug trafficking is a major issue globally going from country to country across the world. Some may ask, ‘What is Drug Trafficking’? As the United Nations observe, “drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws” (UNODC, para 1). Many agencies such as DEA, Border Patrol tend to want to stop the illegal transportation of drugs but if you were to ask any of them, they know their job is not as easy as many people may think. I’m sure many of them can vouch and say it wasn’t always like this but now they have to figure out the stopping of this issue. Drug trafficking can be done in many different ways now, mainly through airplanes, tunnels, or even maybe over sea. Its different ways for different areas.

Gustavo Solis says” drug smuggling along the border is like a balloon, if you squeeze one part, the air simply shifts to another” (Drug smuggling, and the endless battle to stop it). We could talk about this issue in South America or Afghanistan but that would be no use to us in the United States. In the United States for at least two decades, different seizures of drugs varying from marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and maybe some pills like opioids. Our neighboring country, Mexico, plays a big role in the drug trafficking coming into our country. Lauren Villa shared “the top five districts for drug trafficking in 2016 were: Western District of Texas, Southern District of Texas, District of Arizona, Southern District of California, District of New Mexico” (Trafficking Statistics, 2021). This is a lot of ground to cover when trying to find a way to stop the trafficking from happening. Most of DEA and Border Patrols have no way of figuring out how to stop this issue, they just offer temporary support that has not been effective for years. People outside of the agencies and outside of the drug trafficking world, we must understand this is also considered a productive business and the operations continue to evolve and grow. Monitoring of these smuggling techniques are hard and time consuming. Villa also shared “according to the DEA, when shipments of drugs are trafficked into the U.S. in kilogram or pound-sized blocks, they are usually taken to an apartment or house where a person responsible for bagging up the drugs breaks them into smaller quantities using blenders, coffee grinders, food processors, or diluents” (Trafficking Statistics, 2021). Reports by UNODC “drug traffickers may have laundered around $1.6 trillion, or 2.7 per cent of global GDP, 2009”. With drug trafficking unfortunately comes illicit flows of cash or other illicit financial funds generated by an organized crime. Despite the efforts of trafficking drugs, it is important to know if someone you love has a drug addiction, it is extremely important to find your love one help immediately.

The harms that come from drug trafficking always almost involve excessive violence by the cartels but of course people have seen shows involving drugs and the trafficking of drugs and also the laundering of money, but no one experiences more than the Border patrol especially in San Diego. Solis stated “during the 2016 fiscal year, Border Patrol agents in San Diego confiscated nearly 83,000 kilograms of marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin from the three ports of entry in the area. The next closest border sector in terms of drug seizures was Laredo, Texas, which covers twice as much land and where agents confiscated 10,000 fewer kilograms of drugs, according to Customs and Boarder Protection data” (Drug smuggling, and the endless battle to stop it). Once fences were built in San Diego to try to fix the issue of trafficking over the border, agents noticed more pangas which are small, open fishing boats that run on outboard motors abandoned on the beach. Also, when fences were being built San Diego had issues with building of tunnels. Solis stated “while the majority of smuggling attempts happen in the ports of entry, the biggest loads of drugs enter San Diego through tunnels. The ones equipped with rails can carry packages as big as 35 tons. It can take more than a million dollars to build one of these tunnels, but the drug smuggling organization can get a return on its investment after two successful shipments” (Drug smuggling, and the endless battle to stop it).

The research shows that nothing has really been effective when discussing and searching for ideas to stop the process of drug trafficking. When you think just about the ocean perspective, Coast Guard or DEA or Border Patrol agents there aren’t enough patrol over the entire sea surrounding The United States. It’s difficult but I am sure it’s also difficult to avoid corruption amongst the team in law enforcement. A lot of money is being made through this harming process and a lot of law enforcement can be paid off to turn away or not report certain crimes. Within the drug trafficking organization, a lot of the process would not work without the help of some corrupted law enforcement. Although not a lot of agents and law members participate with the drug process, enough do to make a difference. Maybe the thought should be to get the corruption out and that might help with dismantling of the drug trafficking organization as a whole and take many cartels out that are involved. Lauren Villa shared recent statistics on drug trafficking, “In 2016, the majority (84.9%) of traffickers were male with an average age of 36. Roughly 70% of all offenders were U.S. citizens, and almost half (49.4%) had little or no prior criminal history. The DEA puts much of its focus on trafficking from Mexican drug cartels because not only do they control a large share of the drug distribution within the U.S. Between 2011 and 2015, there was an almost50% increase in the number of people sentenced for crimes related to heroin trafficking in the U.S. (Trafficking Statistics).