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Drug Trafficking in the 21st CenturyMichelle Popelka

+In the past decade drugs and illegal drug trafficking have begun to be a large

problem in society. Though drugs have been around for over a century, in recent

years the magnitude of drug trafficking has grown to become the main economic

staple of the black market.

+Origin of Drugs At the very beginning of the 20th century, the U.S. had

its first drug epidemic causing the U.S. to begin to limit the availability of cocoa plants and opium.

By WW2 the problem had diseased to the point where the government could just call it a social problem

“During the 1960s, drugs like marijuana, amphetamines, and psychedelics came on the scene, and a new generation embraced drugs.” –Illegal Drugs in America: A modern History

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1973: Drug Enforcement Administration was created to enforce federal drug laws

1970s: Cocaine reappeared. 1980s: Crack appeared, spreading addiction and

violence “Today sophisticated and powerful criminal groups

headquartered in foreign countries control the drug trade in the United States.”

–Illegal Drugs in America: A modern History

+Why the rise of drug use? Many factors come into why there has been a major rise

in drug abuse in the past decade the three key factors include:

Availability -- the amount of drugs illegally trafficked into the U.S. is thought to have tripled since 2001, there are now thousands powerful foreign industries that sell drugs on the black market.

Rise in the standard of living – with more leisure time and more spending money, more people are given more opportunities to experiment with drugs.

Acceptance – drug use has become more accepted in society, slowly being taken into normalcy for younger generations

+Drugs and Alcohol The cycle of drug use can be compared to

that of Alcohol in the 1920’s. When both became a problem for society, laws against their use were created.

You can compare drug trafficking of today to alcohol smuggling during the 1920’s, both causing much violence while being a large economic staple on the black market.

Like how alcohol slowly became legal, today leniency on drug use is slowly increasing.

+Drug Swallowing One of the most common ways of smuggling drugs is

physically swallowing or inserting the drug into cavities.

When drugs are smuggled in this procedure first they are stuffed into multiple layers of condoms.

These packs are then swallowed or inserted into various body parts.

Once arriving at their destination, the mule waits for the drugs to pass so they can be sold.

+ It is very risky to

swallow drugs, there is always a chance that the latex may rip, leak, or burst.

The amount of drugs contained in each pellet is well more than enough to kill someone.

The drug mules are sometimes cut open if not all the drugs are passed

+“Go Fast Boats” Detectable by

technology and visible by helicopters

First go fast boat was caught in 2006 carrying many tons of cocaine

2006: detected 3 2008: detected about

10 per a month.

+Narco-Submarines First one was found in 2010 A narco-submarine is a small self propelled semi-sub

it does not completely submerge in the water, that is self propelled with a small cockpit.

60 feet and can carry 10 tons of cocaine traveling about 11 mph

Virtually undetectable by wave radar technology until 2011

+Ways of Smuggling Drugs Furniture and Shoes: Usually placed inside

of secret compartments in furniture and the soles of the shoes

Puppies and other animals: Instead of hiring drug mules to swallow pellets they are surgically place inside of these animals to be taken on a commercial plane

Children: dozens of pellets are strapped around their bodies

Tombstones: The inside of tombstones are hollowed out and filled with drugs before being placed on a cargo ship

Clothes: drugs are sewn into the mules clothes so they are undetectable to the eye

+Why do people become mules? Drug traitors hire mules to

lower the risk of them themselves getting caught.

Usually in need of money so it seems like a good way to make easy money

A lot of drug mules are not actually aware of the risks that can happen to them

Sometimes a mule can be unaware they are transporting drugs

+Catching Drug Mules 2001: 136 pounds of

cocaine were found in 84 swallowers

2002: In he first 5 months 88 pounds were found in 55 swallowers

New technology in airports such as full body scanners makes it easier to detect drug swallower

Most mules are caught simply based on appearance and profiling by customs agents.

+ Effects of Drugs in the U.S.The damage created by drug abuse has

added up to about $215 billion

Health and Healthcare systems—many drugs cause health problems in their users, weather a long term effect or an overdose straining hospitals for treatments

Crime and criminal justice systems—drug related crimes is one of the top reasons that people are incarcerated, the government spends millions of dollars imprisoning these people

Homelessness—many addictions result in bankrupt, spending all of ones money on drugs, this often results in homelessness

Violence--over 50% of violence is alcohol or drug related

+ When was the first drug epidemic?

At the very beginning of the 20th century

+ What are 3 key factors in the rise of drug use in the

past decade? Availability Acceptance Higher standard of living

+ If drugs are to be compared to alcohol in the time of

prohibition, would it be better for drugs to be legalized as alcohol was?

No, the effects of drugs on society are much greater than that of alcohol, alcohol is less dangerous and less addictive. This would only raise the availability of drugs which could lead to even more people using them

+ Because of the advancements in wave technology, and

the tighter airport security when entering the U.S., will drug trafficking come to a halt?

It is hard to predict what will come in the future for drug trafficking, it may come to a halt with the tighter security, but new innovations are being made by the traffickers as well

+Bibliography Gwinnell, Esther, and Christine A. Adamec. The Encyclopedia of Drug Abuse. New York NY:

Facts On File, 2008. Print.

"08-Nov-2010." Nothing To Do With Arbroath. Web. 16 May 2011. http://arbroath.blogspot.com/2010_11_08_archive.html

Roanoke.com: Breaking News, Sports and Weather from The Roanoke Times Newspaper. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.roanoke.com/>.

Ii, World War. "Illegal Drugs in America: A Modern History." DEA Museum & Visitors Center. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.deamuseum.org/museum_ida.html>.

"Google Images." Google. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://bahalanasibatman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/drugmule.jpg

"Top Eight Methods of Smuggling Drugs : Investigation Discovery." ID - Investigation Discovery : Hollywood Crimes, Forensics, Murders. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://investigation.discovery.com/investigation/drug-mules/smuggling-slideshow.html>.

Yanez, Luisa. "Cases Of Drug-swallower Smugglers On The Rise - Sun Sentinel." Featured Articles From The Sun Sentinel. 11 Feb. 1990. Web. 16 May 2011. <http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1990-02-11/news/9001230971_1_swallowers-pure-cocaine-colombia>.

"Impact of Drugs on Society - National Drug Threat Assessment 2010." Welcome to the United States Department of Justice. Web. 18 May 2011. <http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs38/38661/drugImpact.htm>.