Drug Trafficking in Latin America

1. Drug Trafficking in Latin America Hayrelyn De JesusAlma CoronadoKatie JacksonMartha De La Torre

2. Why Drug Trafficking? • It’s a serious issue that consumes millions of dollars and thousands of lives each year. • The war on drugs is absorbing a lot of government resources. • Although it can be seen as a negative issue there is light at the end of the tunnel.

3. Why Drug Trafficking is so Prevalent • Because of low levels of education, third world economies, and lack of infrastructure- many poor Latin Americans find themselves with few alternatives to survive, support their families, and thrive on more than a dollar a day, so they turn to illegal drug trade as an “easy” way out. • North Americans provide a large market and high demand for illegal drugs, and Latin Americans are responding to the demand and making a lot of money in the process.

4. Countries • Colombia (South America) • Panama (Central America) • Mexico (North America) • Dominican Republic (Caribbean)

5. Basic Country Information

6. Colombia

7. Drug Trafficking History • Types of Drugs • Marijuana • Colombia's first illegal exporting drug (1960’s) • Cocaine • Surfaces during the 1970’s • Heroine • Allows drug lords to make twice as much money as cocaine (1990’s) • Cartels: an international syndicate or trust formed to regulate prices and output in the drug business • Medellin Cartel • Ochoa Brothers (part of founders) • Cali Cartel • Norte del Valle Cartel • North Coast Cartel

8. Present Day Drug Trafficking • Colombia is the principal supplier of cocaine to the world • 90 % of US cocaine consumption comes from Colombia • >300 active drug smuggling organizations in Colombia today • Illegal drugs are mainly for export, but recently domestic consumption is on the rise • Narcotraffickers exploit Colombia’s geography and well-developed infrastructure, including ports on the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, multiple international airports, a growing highway system, and extensive rivers for their operations.

9. Statistics • Average price of heroine ≈ $10,000/kg • Average price of cocaine ≈ $2,000/kg • Government seized over 126 metric tons cocaine and cocaine base in 2007 alone • Half of worlds coca cultivation occurs in Colombia

10. Effects on…. • Society • “Dangerous Society” • Innocent people caught in the middle of drug wars daily • Increasing Standard of Living • Economy • Environmental • Deforestation caused by clearing fields for cultivation • Soil Erosion • Cocaine Manufacturing Jobs • Raising Colombia’s GDP

11. Countries Actions against Drugs • Plan Colombia (President Andres Pastrana-1999) • Partnership with US to curb drug smuggling and others • Budget of $7.5 billion (contributions from US & Colombia) • 51% institutional and social development • 32% for fighting the drug trade • 16% for economic and social revitalization • 0.8% to support effort against conflict with guerilla groups. • War on Drugs” • Social and economic revitalization • Ending the armed conflict • Creating an anti-drug strategy. • Demand Reduction Strategy • Informing young children at school (DARE) • National Drug Use Surveys

12. Panama

13. Drug Trafficking History • General Manuel Noriega, a Panamanian strongman, had close ties with the Medellín Cartel and was heavy into drug trafficking and money laundering as early as the late 1960’s. • Noriega would provide safe havens for drug officials, offering protection and pilots, and secret banking facilities. • The US invaded Panama in 1989 to remove Noriega, a once trusted and highly paid CIA collaborator, for providing intelligence to Cuba. • Once brought back to the US he was indicted, among other things, for drug trafficking. • Ironically, after he was removed drug trafficking increased in Panama.

14. Present Day Drug Trafficking • Because of Panama’s geographic location, sophisticated banking and trading sectors, and largely unguarded coastlines, Panama is an attractive site for money laundering, drug trafficking, and arms dealing. • The Panama canal provides transit routes to the United States, Canada, and Europe, and once the drugs are delivered the money is returned to Panama for laundering. • Drugs transit Panama via fishing vessels, cargo ships, small aircraft, and go-fast boats. • Also, drug traffickers hide their cargo behind false floors and walls, submerged in fuel tanks, welded inside heavy machinery, or embedded in various types of food containers including tuna and marmalade. • Panama’s involvement in the drug trade is directly related to the thriving drug industry in Colombia.

15. Statistics • In 2007 the world record for a maritime drug seizure occurred off the coast of Panama weighing in at 60 metric tons of cocaine. • In addition, GOP authorities seized 96 kg of heroin, nearly 3.9 MT of marijuana • 207 arrests were made for international drug-related offenses.

16. Effects on…. • Society • Panama is rife with spillover of narcotics trafficking and terrorist activity from neighboring Colombia. An insecure border represents a threat to regional stability not only in Panama but in the rest of Central America. • Economy • Because of low wages, increased cost of living, and high reliance on trade and transport industries, many Panamanians participate in the drug trade as an alternative means of income.

17. Countries Actions against Drugs • The National Anti-Corruption Commission, made strides in 2007 to address government corruption, including auditing government accounts and launching major investigations • In 2004 Panama's President Martin Torrijos was elected on a "zero corruption" campaign platform and his administration has made significant efforts to combat government corruption. • In 2007, the GOP implemented the final part of its five-year counternarcotics strategy that included 29 demand reduction, drug education, and drug treatment projects, at a total cost of $6.5 million to fund the projects during the five-year period • Panama is a party to the 1988 UN Drug Convention, the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotics Drugs, as amended by the 1972 Protocol, and the 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

18. Mexico

19. Drug Trafficking History • In the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, drugs such as marijuana, opiates and cocaine were commonly used in Mexico, especially opiates, basically for medical reasons • 1990s – significant shift in production and distribution • Increased surveillance of the Caribbean area by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) • Colombian drug traffickers began to rely upon Mexican organizations to smuggle cocaine into the United States, making Mexico the main transshipment point for U.S.-bound drugs • 1990s also saw the beginning of production of synthetic drugs in Mexico such as methamphetamine • Until then methamphetamine had been produced mainly inside the United States

20. Present Day Drug Trafficking • 2 important conditions exist for organized crime to survive in its current form: • Survival of the drug trade — specifically a high demand for illegal drugs in the United States. • Mexico’s use as a transshipment point for U.S.-bound drugs. • In recent weeks, an increasing number of innocent people have been killed by suspected drug cartel hit men in Sinaloa and Chihuahua, where a brutal war is going on to conquer territory and weaken each other. • Has claimed more than 210 lives in the first three months of this year • At the height of the violence, around Easter, bodies were turning up every morning, at a rate of almost 12 a week

21. Statistics • About 90% of the cocaine that enters the United States is trafficked through Mexico • Mexico is the United States’ largest foreign supplier of marijuana • 99% of all methamphetamine produced in the country is exported to the United States • In October 2007 officials seized 23.5 tons of cocaine, the largest seizure ever reported in Mexico • More than 2,000 people have been killed in drug-related violence this year

22. Effects on…. • Society • Of the almost 400 murders of women in Juárez since 1993, it is estimated that around 25% were directly related to the drug trade. • Organized crime invokes a combination of fear and respect in the community, making it difficult for law enforcement to locate witnesses willing to cooperate in investigations. • Violence and crime in general start to be tolerated and accepted • Law enforcement is not trusted • In Juárez, it is estimated that 95% of crimes go unsolved and unpunished. • People are often scared of reporting even mundane crimes, fearful of where it may lead. • Economy • Drug trafficking is the most profitable organized criminal business in Mexico. • In 1994, the Mexican Attorney General’s office estimated that the drug trade contributed around $30 billion annually to the Mexican economy. Only $7 billion was generated that year by oil earnings • Provides jobs to poor people to sustain themselves and their families

23. Countries Actions against Drugs • November 2002: the 2001–2006 National Drug Control Program (PNCD) was approved • provides for actions in the areas of demand reduction, supply reduction, reduction of illicit crop cultivation, drug production and trafficking, and international cooperation • 2008: Mexican president, Felipe Calderon has deployed roughly 30,000 troops to work with the federal police in nine states • including Michoacan, Guerrero, Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas. • The Comprehensive Strategy Against Drug Trafficking (July 10, 2008) • nearly double the size of its federal police force to reduce the role of the military in combating drug trafficking • Purging local police forces of corruptofficers and initiating social measures designed to improve public confidence in government agencies tainted by corruption. • The Merida Initiative • Last month, President Bush signed a $400 million package to help Mexico fight cartels. • Pushed through in large part by lawmakers who said they were impressed by Mexican President Felipe Calderon’s commitment to working more closely with U.S. law enforcement.

24. Dominican Republic

25. Drug Trafficking History • Santiago Luis Polanco Rodriguez-1st mass marketer of crack cocaine. He was released from prison in 1992. He is married, has 5 children and says he has retired from the criminal life.

26. Statistics • In 2007: Seized 4 metric tons of cocaine, 102.5 kilos of heroin, 551.7 kilos of marijuana • Drug related arrests-Up 60% in 2007 • Drug airdropping is becoming more popular. 10 cases reported so far this year.

27. Effects on…. • Society • Deforestation • Many plantations provide prostitutes to sustain their employees • STD’s are spread at a rapid pace • Economy • Raises GDP • Raises standard of living • Provides a temporary job for families struggling financially

28. Countries Actions against Drugs • Dominican Republic wants more help to fight drug trafficking. The US gave $400 million to Mexico and Central America and only $2.5 million to the D.R. and Haiti • Operation “Rum Punch”- a joint, interagency coordinated counternarcotics operation between U.S. mission agencies and D.R. military branches

29. Summary

30. Questions?