Drug smugglers becoming more creative (EDITED)

Drug traffickers are throwing everything they got in getting drugs into the United States any way they can. Near the Mexican border, officials have found drugs smuggled in things such as tables, toys, furniture, holiday candles, even tennis shoes. Drugs also are brought in underground through tunnels.

The smuggling organizations are well established and sophisticated. They have the latest technology, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement. Border agents have found radios, cells phones and global positioning system tracking devices, leading officials to believe drug cartels close to the border are in constant contact with drug runners. Click here for photos of creative techniques drug smugglers are using

Drugs are also being smuggled in the waters of the eastern Pacific off the coasts of Central and South America. U.S. Coast Guards will find pounds of pure cocaine. Drug traffickers have become very aggressive in their smuggling tactics. With new trends they are using vessels that are less detectable.

Known as SPSS, "self-propelled semi-submersibles are like submarines". Anywhere from several inches to a couple of feet remain above the water line; they are painted a blue or gray for camouflage, and they are flat on top with valves and air holes. They are difficult to detect and have become increasingly better. Some can travel up to 5,000 miles and use fuel tanks for ballast. They can carry some seven to 10 tons of drugs, and because of their low profiles and low radar signatures. According to National News, the submersibles are about 40 feet long, go 40 knots and can carry several tons of heroin or cocaine. The drugs then go to Mexico, where the cargo is offloaded and transported across the border into the U.S.

Watch the ways in which drugs are moved to the U.S.

For the Coast Guards, evidence of drug smuggling needed for prosecution is hard because traffickers can escape by opening a hatch, tossing out a life raft and then scuttling the vessel to the bottom of the ocean along with its cargo. A U.S. law signed in January makes it illegal to operate a stateless SPSS and will allow the Coast Guard to arrest people it used to have to release because drug evidence was on the bottom of the ocean. Drug smugglers will put it anywhere they can, and are very creative in creating their own compartments and concealing them. (CNN)

With border security tighter than ever, drug traffickers are paying kids as young as 14 to smuggle dope. Drug traffickers often bribe Mexican police and U.S. agents. With billions of dollars cartels will try anything. There will never be a way to completely stop the drug smuggling that is coming into our country.

The reason for drug trafficking is because there is so much money to be made from it that nothing else can compare. The source of the problem is not Colombia or Mexico it is the drug users that this country produces by the millions. The only way to stop drug trafficking is to legalize it. Making drugs legal would drastically reduce the profitability of trafficking drugs. Other than that, there is absolutely nothing that can be done. More restrictions lead to higher prices leads to more people trying to smuggle. It’s a cycle.

We'll never stop drug trafficking, we can just hope to slow it down.

Sources:
http://www.cnn.com
http:/www.usdoj.gov/dea
http://www.thenassauguardian.com/national_local
Pictures - http://www.mademan.com
Video-http://www.clipsyndicate.com

The Colombian Drug Cartels (EDITED)

Drug are operated by powerful, wealthy, murderous criminals. The Colombian cartels are extremely powerful and a major force in global drug trade, and the Colombian government. Colombia drug cartels have been responsible for trafficking drugs into the United States, committing horrible violent crimes, and bribing high profile officials. Since the 1970’s, Colombia has been the most violent drug trafficking organizations in the world. According to PBS Frontline, traffickers have built sophisticated smuggling equipment, such as a high tech submarine that was discovered by the Colombian National Police. Colombian cocaine traffickers had hired engineering experts from Russia and the United States to help with the design of the submarine, which would be used to secretly ship large quantities of cocaine to the United States.

In the mid 1970s, marijuana traffickers in Colombia began exporting small quantities of cocaine to the United States hidden in suitcases. At that point, cocaine could be processed for $1500/kilo in jungle labs and could be sold on the streets of America for as much as $50,000/kilo. (PBS Frontline)

There are two major drug cartel groups in Colombia, the Medellin and Cali cartel. Pablo Escobar, a common street thief who masterminded the criminal enterprise became known as the Medellin cartel. The men from Medellin would fly cocaine in small airplanes directly into the United States. The large quantities for cocaine in the United States led to huge profits, which the cartel began re-investing into more sophisticated labs, better airplanes and even an island in the Caribbean where the planes could refuel.

Pablo Escobar was responsible for the murder of hundreds of government officials, police, prosecutors, judges, journalists and innocent bystanders. By the beginning of the 1990s Pablo Escobar had built the largest and most profitable illegal, undercover industry in the world. The cartel began to self-destruct as the violence and power grew. Many of them were gunned down by Colombian Police. Pablo Escobar was hunted down and killed by the Colombian police after a long battles.


The Cali Cartels were rivals with the Medellin cartels. The men from Cali were less flashy and smuggled as a sophisticated business, re-investing their profits in businesses. The Cali cartel began to attack the Medellin cartel and competition became more and more violent. The Cali Cartels had been dominating more of the cocaine trade.

They hired lawyers to study the moves of the DEA and the US prosecutors. In the past ten years, both the former president of Colombia and hundreds of Congressmen and Senators have been accused of accepting campaign financing from the Cali cartels.

But, the leaders were tracked down in the mid 1990’s and are currently serving 10 to 15 year prison terms. Many believe they actually worked out an arrangement with the Colombian government that they would not be extradited to a U. S. prison cell. DEA agents believe they are still running their empire from their prison cells.

After the destruction of both the Cali and Medellin cartels, there have been smaller groups. One group smuggles the drugs from Colombia to Mexico. Another group controls the jungle labs.

The Colombian National police believe there are more than 300 active drug smuggling organizations in Colombia today. Colombian government is just too weak to confront the cartels. Though there will never be a successful way to stop these cartels entering in and out of our country. The only thing we can do is defend our borders. Let's hope President Obama will work with the president of Mexico and Colombia to come up with a plan to help the war on drugs.
Sources:
http://www.pbs.org/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/colombian.html
http:// www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6647227/
http://www.thefreshscent.com/.../0407/columbia1.jpg

Drug Trafficking In The United States

There are a number of drugs that come across our border everyday. A number of drugs including cocaine, opiates, cannabis, and synthetic drugs such as MDMA (ecstasy) and methamphetamines are considered illegal in most parts of the world. It just results in the creation of a black market in which the demand for the banned substances is met by organized criminals.

The United States is currently engaged in a war on drugs which began in the late 19th and early 20th century. The war against drugs in the United States is one that has been fought for many years, and seems to have no end. The war affects the country's economic policy and shapes relationships with numerous foreign powers. The United States military and intelligence services are engaged in the war, and law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels. Yet drug use and abuse continues to be strong within the United States.

There has been massive amount of money and time poured into the issue of drug control and it is still ineffective. According to Office of National Drug Control Policy, the U.S. federal government spent over $19 billion dollars in 2003 on the War on Drugs. The budget has since been increased by over a billion dollars.

There are many different sides to this war, but none that can be answered. This is a continuing war and we cannot win because it is fought over and over and it will never disappear but will grow higher everyday. There have been laws that try to eliminate these illegal substances but these laws have not done enough to help. Our society is obligated to live by tough drug laws that put a large percentage of our population in prison. There has been numerous amounts of arrests and drug busts.