Latin America Drug Trafficking

By: Brian, Caleb, Jim, Matt, & Tim

Introduction:• Cocaine • Heroin• Marijuana• Cartels (drug dealers and producers) • War on drugs• Agencies that deal with drugs

Associated with drugs• Drugs are not the only thing that is involved with drug trafficking. • Prostitution • Gun running• Slavery - sex trafficking- slave trade (workers, growers and people who

make the drugs could be part of this slave trade)• Murder

Effects of illegal drugs• Illegal drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and marijuana mess with people

more than just getting them high• The drugs can make people turn to violence and even murder just so

they can get their next fix. • People who resort to such means usually start with small break-ins

and petty theft to sell those items they took for the drug of their choice

Mid 20th century – present • President Nixon starts his “War on drugs” that continued for nearly

four decades. • President Obama revamped the war on drugs and said it is no longer

a war rather it needs to be looked at as a disease rather than something that people can control. • Illegal drugs hit hard on the streets of the United States which causes

all sorts of chaos and criminal behavior • 1973 the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency) was formed to combat the

illegal drug trade.

Mid 20th century – present cont. • Since the 1970’s a majority of drugs are coming from Latin America,

Columbia, Bolivia, and Cuba are a few of the main suppliers of illegal drugs.• Columbia is one of the biggest problems when dealing with drugs,

especially cocaine. • Bolivia has a third of the worlds coca leaves on the East part of the

Andes mountains. • Cuba allows these countries to bring in drugs and supplies the cartels

with soldiers for protection.

Columbia• Harrison tax act of 1914 really is where it all began • It was not until after Columbia based its drug prohibitions on the

United States Harrison Narcotics Act of 1914 that the drug "trade" really began. At that point it was just opiates and cocaine that were banned but in 1937 the U.S. added marijuana along with tobacco and alcohol with Columbia following suit. • Finally, between 1964 and 1968 the U.S. and Columbia added a

variety of stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogenics.

Columbia cont.• With jungle cocaine produced at approximately $1500 per kilo and

the U.S. street value at over $50,000 per kilo there were massive profits to be made• Cartels maintained the ability to have such large profits at low cost to

produce drugs with brutality and force. People were scared that if they crossed the cartels they would end up dead.• Farmers forced to grow for cartels • Cartels sometimes controlled the governments of the countries they

are from

Columbia cont.• The Columbian government has arguably been one of the most

aggressive and steadfast nations in the "War on Drugs". It acted more aggressively than almost any other signatory of the 1988 Vienna Convention against drug trafficking. How? They included chemicals and precursor agents on their list of nationally controlled substances. • The Columbian government has also lobbied for additional aid from

the U.S. citing the continuously improving efficiency of their programs.

Columbia cont.• Columbian perseverance against the drug trade has not come easy• Violent crime though has now been reduced by half with a homicide rate

lower than Honduras, Jamaica, Guatemala and Trinidad Tobago.• The United States and some European countries have been steadfast in

their financial, political and military support of Columbia's fight against drugs. • This Military/Police and Economic/Social aid has increased from $55M to

$780M from 1996 to 2006. While we have helped stem the production we have done very little to reduce demand. Still the largest user of illegal drugs in the world, 1 in 6 Americans claiming they've used cocaine once in their life.

Bolivia• Bolivia holds one third of the worlds coca plants on the Eastern side

of the Andes mountain range.• Known for many cartel leaders stemming from Bolivia to head

towards Columbia and other countries that deal with illegal drug trafficking. • Bolivia is not only known for its drugs but it is known for being the

only country in the world with two capital cities. • La Paz houses the executive branch of the government and Sucre

houses the Judiciary branch of the government.

Bolivia cont.• Most of the cocaine that comes from Bolivia is from an area known as

Chapare.• The Chapare is the place where 1/3 of the coca plants in the world are

found.• Leaves from the plants are taken by farmers and turned into paste

and sold in the markets. Eventually the paste would be sold to the drug dealers who would use ether to make the cocaine into a powder form. • Drug dealers would then start transporting the drugs to Europe and

North America to start making the big bucks.

Bolivia cont.• 1998 the U.S. finally interveined with an all out force comprised of

DEA, ATF, and military forces to take out the Chapare area and clean them of the plants. • Efforts failed when the multiple government strike force realized that

they had missed over 15,000 acres of coca plants and they blamed it on a “satellite error”

Bolivia cont.• Roberto Suarez Gomez, Bolivian drug trafficker who tried to pay off

Bolivia’s entire foreign debt to the U.S. for the release of his son from jail• Known as the Robin Hood of drug dealers. He received this name

because the people around him loved him and he took care of them and provided for the people what the government could not or would not provide. • Lived the rest of his life in peace at his villa. Friends with Escobar and

other well known drug dealers.

Cuba• Cuba and the drug trade of the Caribbean and Central America.• Provides weapons and soldiers to drug cartels for their protection• Embargoed by the U.S. maybe a reason for extra help to the other

countries. • Allows Columbia to use the airspace and waterways to transport

drugs to the United States for the right price.

Cuba cont.• Mob owned businesses and other forms of commodities as you would

want to call them for the criminal type, use boats and small aircraft to ship drugs from Cuba to the United States. • Perfect area for drug dealers because of the location being only ninety

miles off the coast of Florida.• Charles “Lucky” Luciano is the main mobster that controls the boats

and routs for drugs to be smuggled into the United States.

Cuba cont.• The mob sets up transit systems to bring drugs from Columbia to

Cuba where it would further process and then ship the drugs to the United States by boat or by private airplane to their consumers.• Cartels are using enforcers to protect their investments with extreme

violence and are paid well to do so.• Though officially the Cuban government denies that it has ever

accepted a drug deal from the cartels but there has been many implications that Castro has personally profited from the drug trade even to the point of setting up peace talks and broker a deal between the Medellin Cartel and General Noriega.

Cuba cont.• Cuba claims that it is not their fault that the drugs get past them rather

it is the fault of the United States’ fault because of the high demand for drug consumption on a yearly basis. 260 tons of cocaine and 13.3 tons of heroin every year (Moreno, 2004)• In recent years the Columbian cartels have been replacing the middle

level dealers and higher up dealers with Columbian nationals which have led to more violence for territory and a cut of the drug profits on top of the already violent dispute between the drug cartels. • With such a high lucrative business for the Cuban officials there is no

real end in sight and even the war on drugs seems to have little effect on the drug trade and arms from the Columbian cartels and the corrupt Cuban government.

War on Drugs• United States president Richard Nixon declared a War on drugs in

1971.• United States Southern Command of the department of defense

spearheaded operations to combat drug trafficking in Latin America.• United States trains government agencies in Latin America such as

México's Federal police or the Bolivian National Police Corps force to combat drug cartel. • United States provides non-lethal aid (vehicles, communication

devices, body armor, ect…) to countries all across Latin America every year. Columbia is a major focus.

War on Drugs cont.• In Mexico, over 3,000 police officers and soldiers have been killed since 2006• United States led effort has used controversial herbicide distributed by airplanes to kill

coca plants in Latin American countries such as Columbia. Herbicide has destroyed crucial crops for food and displaced local population.

• Prisons in Latin America filled to capacity from inmates with drug related charges• In Latin America, 48% of jailed women are in for drug-trafficking charges, compared

with only 15% of men. • Many Latin American countries believe that War on drugs has become far to expensive

and has failed to yield enough positive results.• Some Latin American countries are pushing legislation to decriminalize possession of

some narcotics. Guatemalan president Otto Perez Monlina have attempted such legislation.

Conclusion• Crime, poverty, and violence linked to drug use.• Latin America has been and remains large producer of narcotics.• Some success to combat drug trafficking in Columbia.• Roberto Suarez Gomez becomes folk hero among Bolivians from drug

trafficking.• War on drugs has produced mixed results.• Drug Reform is being pushed in some Latin American countries.