Narco-States and the Global Drug Trade

1. Narco-States and the Global Drug Trade

2. How Much Do You Know? • Can you name any narco-states? • Where does most cocaine come from? • Where do most opiates come from? • What is the difference between an opiate and an opioid?

3. How Big Is The Global Drug Trade? • In 2005, a study found that the size of the global illicit drug market at was worth US$321.6 billion • The world GDP was US$36 trillion • So the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade

5. Kingpins • Several drug lords have landed on Forbes richest in the world in recent years

6. Drug Trafficking • Drug smuggling carries severe penalties in many countries. Sentencing may include lengthy periods of incarceration, flogging and even the death penalty (in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc) • In 2010, two people were sentenced to death in Malaysia for trafficking 1 kilogram of cannabis into the country

8. Global Drug Trade • Global heroin flows from Asian points of origin • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMp6Jgk_SQ4 Inside the Drug War in SE Asia, 3:32

9. Main global cocaine flows

10. Effects of Drug Trade on Societies • Refugees • Ecuador had absorbed up to 300,000 refugees from Colombia who were running from guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug lords • Violence • Honduras, through which an estimated 79% of cocaine passes on its way to the US, has one of the highest murder rates in the world • Coups, insurgencies, guerilla warfare • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvaVS2-Qjk0Honduras: key bridge in cocaine trafficking, 2:56

11. What is a Narco-State? • Several definitions… • A state whose economy is dependent on the trade in illegal drugs • A state where all of its legitimate institutions become penetrated by the power of the illegal drug trade • A place where illegal drugs are openly traded with governmental approval

12. 5 Types of Narco-States

13. 1) Incipient • Low-level government officials are involved

14. Papua New Guinea • They grow and sell marijuana to motorcycle gangs in nearby Australia • Local police officials work with drug smugglers • Closely tied with the gun smuggling trade Police officers at Gordons Police station in Port Moresby caught 28 suspects involved in smuggling drugs

15. 2) Developing • Now the judicial system and other high-ranking officials get involved • The benefits of the drug trade begin to spread into the legal economy as well • Crime, addiction and the black market are all on the rise

16. Senegal • Senegal is a transshipment country for getting South American cocaine to European markets • In 2007 two cocaine seizures were worth a quarter of the country’s budget • Many construction projects funded by drug money

17. 3) Serious • Large-scale bribery and widespread corruption of public officials • Substantial violence • Senior government officials are involved

18. Mexico • It is a hybrid – a source, transshipment and demand country • Drugs make more $$ than the tourism industry • Mexican "narcogangs" outnumber and outgun the Mexican Army • About 150,000 intentional homicides since 2006 were organized crime-related. • Mexican drug cartels take in between $19 billion and $29 billion annually from drug sales in the US. Mexican Federal Police stand guard over 105 tons of marijuana seized in Tijuana, Mexico

19. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOxmHfwCYuQ How Mexico’s Cartels Make Billions, Business Insider 1:04

20. Drug Cartels • : Any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations

21. 4) Critical • Almost all levels of government work with the illegal drug trade • Rampant crime • Civilians are either complicit or cowed by the corrupt state agents or drug syndicates

22. Colombia • Until 2011 it was the world's largest cocaine producer, however with a strong anti-narcotic strategy the country fell to the third position, behind Peru and Bolivia • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmlExhLyTtYColombia's battle with cocaine traffickers - BBC News 2:31 • In the 1980s, the 2 major drug cartels were the Medellin (Pablo Escobar’s) and Cali groups. • Throughout the 90's however, these lost power and the power dispersed over many smaller cartels

23. Honduras • In the 2000s the drug trade was being limited in the Caribbean, so the South American cartels needed overland routes into the US • Honduras was weak, poor, and compliant • The attorney-general was arrested for corruption • The police chief was linked to disappearances and extra-judicial killings

24. 5) Advanced • The drug economy overshadows the legitimate economy • Government institutions facilitate the manufacturing and distribution of drugs

25. Afghanistan • Fragile democracy with internal violence • Opium economy is deeply embedded in the fabric of the country • Insurgents love it because it causes the internal disorder they want • The Taliban help opium farmers, so they help and trust them in return

26. North Korea • They actively produce heroin and methamphetamines under the direction of the government • State-run collective farms have portions of their fields reserved for poppies • They sell to gangs like the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese triads Poppy fields in North Korea

27. Venezuela • The former vice president Tareck el Aissami has been accused of supporting drug trafficking and helping Mexican drug cartels. Aissami has been banned from entering the United States since 2017. • In 2016 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's two nephews were found guilty of trying to ship drugs into the United States so they could "obtain a large amount of cash to help their family stay in power” • Cocaine trafficking has increased since the early 2000s when the government kicked out the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), accusing its representatives of spying.

28. The World’s Only Perfect Narco State • Colombian drug cartels used the West African country of Guinea-Bissau as Jamaica and Panama increased policing. • The lack of prisons, few police, political instability, and poverty attracted the traffickers • The value of illicit drug smuggling in Guinea-Bissau is almost twice the value of the country’s GDP • Police officers are often bribed. • A police officer's normal monthly wage of $93 is less than 2% of the value of 1 kilogram of cocaine ($8751) • From here, the drugs are often transported through the Sahara and then on to Southern Europe, or flown in through Spain/Portugal, or flown in through “mules”

29. How did it start? • Guinea Bissau's cocaine trade began in 2005 when fishermen found packages of white powder washed up on the beach. • They had no idea what it was, and first put it on their crops (which all died) • Then some Colombians arrived by chartered plane, armed with $1 million in 'buyback' cash, which the locals gleefully accepted. • And it went on from there

30. Is the Netherlands a Narco-State? • Dutch police say that drug syndicates have been given free rein • Critics of the Dutch tolerance policy towards cannabis and prostitution claim the Netherlands has been inadvertently promoted as a major hub for the trafficking of drugs and people. • A large majority of ecstasy comes from here • Half of the €5.7bn a year of cocaine taken in Europe comes through the port of Rotterdam • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsFPgTIKnPMNarco State: Drug gangs becoming powerful in the Netherlands 3:05

31. Opiates • Up until around 2004 the majority of the world's heroin was produced in an area known as the Golden Triangle. (Myanmar, Laos, Thailand) • By 2007, 93% of the opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan • This made $63 billion, with 25% going to the opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers. • Another significant area where poppy fields are grown for the manufacture of heroin is Mexico.

32. Opiates VS Opioids • Opiate: They are naturally derived from the opium poppy • Ex: morphine, codeine, and heroin • Opioid: a pain medication that is very similar to opiates, however, they are synthetic or partially synthetic. • EX: methadone, oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl

33. Decriminalize or Stricter Punishment? • What is the best solution? • The movement toward decriminalization • Many see this as the most effective way to curb violence related to drugs. • Others favor enforcement against violent dealers while also trying to reduce demand. • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJUXLqNHCaIWhy The War on Drugs Is a Huge Failure, Kurzesagt, 6:25