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Essay / The Problem of Drug Trafficking and Its Effects in the United States
Drug trafficking has been around longer than most people realize. Unless it affects us directly, we tend not to think about the impact and harm it causes to ourselves, others and the country we live in. There are several reasons for drug trafficking, such as money laundering, illicit financing, illegal firearms, organized immigration crime. , production of false documents, modern slavery and human trafficking. Drug trafficking can also be called drug distribution. What drug trafficking actually is is the crime of illegally selling, transporting, or importing illegal controlled substances, such as heroin, cocaine, marijuana, or other illegal drugs. Drug trafficking is punished more severely than drug possession. It is a federal crime when a criminal transports drugs across state lines. If you are caught drug trafficking, you can be charged with a prison sentence of 3 to 5 years. This figure may, however, be higher if larger quantities are involved. In response to drug trafficking, several measures have been taken to help and solve the problem. One of those things is the Kingpin Act. The Kingpin Act blocks all property and real estate interests in the United States, this law was implemented on December 3, 1999. There is also OFAC. That means the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which enforces economic and trade sanctions. The goal of the Kingpin Act is to exclude bad actors, or drug traffickers, and their organizations. Their strength with this program lies in the government's ability to ensure that non-governmental actors in the United States act as gatekeepers to prevent narcotics traffickers from moving, gaining funds and investments as well as purchasing goods and services. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essayIn the Sinaloa cartel between 1990 and 2008, they imported more than 200 tons of cocaine and large quantities of heroin. Joaquín Guzman “El Chapo” was the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. After several arrests and prison escapes, Guzman was arrested by Mexican authorities in 2016. He was later handed over to the United States to face criminal charges in 2017. The Sinaloa Cartel is still active and one of the largest active cartels.The Sinaloa Cartel is not the only cartel, there are still several other active cartels. One of these cartels is the Gulf Cartel. They worked with Los Zetas, a group made up of former elite military personnel, who eventually became Gulf hitmen. In 2010, these two groups broke up, leading to bloody fallout. The bloody fallout has been called the most violent organized crime in Mexico. The Los Zetas group has a reputation for engaging in cruel violence, including leaving body parts in public places and posting murders on the Internet. In 2013, their leader, Miguel Angel Trevino, was arrested. In a 2015 Congressional Research Service report, Mexico's drug wars claimed more than 80,000 lives between 2006 and 2015. Drug trafficking in the United States remains a major concern. In the Middle East, organizations such as the Taliban and Al-Qaeda play a major role in the transportation and production of illegal substances. A 2014 report showed that Americans spent approximately $100 billion on illegal substances. Law enforcement is strongly affected by drug trafficking.It has been negatively affected in many ways, including the increase in crime rates. There is now an increased health risk: they may inadvertently come into contact with newer, more powerful drugs while working with criminals. Trafficking also negatively affects it by diverting attention and money from other needed services and programs, due to the attention and money devoted to funding the drug task force. The misuse of these funds affects both local and federal law enforcement. It has also made crimes more serious and violent. The intensity of crimes has increased and law enforcement officers are more exposed to risks on a daily basis. This leads to more murders, deaths, stabbings, shootings, robberies and even crimes against children. The age range for drug trafficking and possession has increased significantly, with the ages of those involved ranging from the youngest to the oldest. The drug community does not discriminate or exclude any age group. Our country has also been greatly affected by immigration, due to the increase in the amount of drugs being brought into the United States. In order to combat this problem, our country has had to strengthen its immigration laws, in order to reduce drug trafficking. This in turn affects people who are trying to improve themselves and find a better way of life in our country and who would become productive citizens. One of the ways we want to tighten the border is to build a wall. “The president wants a physical barrier along the Mexico-US border to prevent people from crossing illegally. » (BBC, 2019, paragraph 1) President Trump hopes that by building a wall he can reduce the number of illegal immigrants. By decreasing the number of illegal immigrants, we also hope to decrease the number of illegal drugs being imported. Wellbeing is also another major issue impacting our economy and country. By allowing illegal immigrants to come to our country, we have had to pay for their medical services and nutritional supplements. In doing so, it deprives other American citizens of funds that contribute to society. It also contributes to increasing our national debt. By allowing the use of federal aid to meet basic needs, it allows immigrants to send tax-free money to their families in their home countries. By allowing these untaxed dollars to be sent back to their countries of origin, the United States helps support these foreign economies. Not to mention the monetary gain that illegal immigrants manage to obtain through drug trafficking. Due to drug trafficking, crime has increased. Often, illegal drugs and violence are automatically contacted due to previous cases where they are the cause. It is, however, shocking to note that illegal or generally peaceful drug markets; however, some drug markets are very violent and give rise to the general idea that drug markets are the common cause of violence. Mexico is a great example of this: there has been drug trafficking within its community for a century, and although there are drug-associated murders, the drug markets in Mexico are relatively peaceful. It has started to become more violent over the past three decades. Mexico has become a multi-party democracy, which has made the drug trafficking problem significantly worse, due to the drug trade shifting to Mexico. At that time, Mexican politics and institutions were in a state of flux, which prevented them fromsolve the problem that they tended to aggravate. By 2010, illegal drug revenues accounted for a third of Afghanistan's GDP; however, drug-related violence was extremely low. Studies and empirical evidence show that there is no direct link between drugs and violence. When there are drugs that are very important and easy to acquire, it is not natural for people to kill each other over them. However, cartel leader or solo drug traffickers can do this. This could be because they were cheated out of money or drugs. However, when it comes to citizens, they are unlikely to kill each other if drugs are easy to obtain. Drug lords can, but citizens cannot. Many people tend to associate things like income and wealth inequality, economic crisis, dashed expectations, and corruption with drug-related violence, although these may play a role, but this does not does not always mean that they are the cause. This means that when these examples occur, so do crime and drugs. Drugs are not the only reason for the increase in crime. An economic crisis alone can cause an increase in crime. The criminal motivation theory shows that with an increase in economic stress, the criminal's motivation also changes; however, this does not support the criminal's opportunity. Due to decreased levels of production and consumption, this can reduce certain crimes such as property crimes. Even if we fail to realize it, we have affected the drug cartels and hurt their business. When Michigan, North Dakota, Utah and Missouri decided to legalize marijuana last year. Mexico quickly felt the effects. Since cannabis was legalized, the amount of cannabis smuggled by Mexican drug cartels has decreased. In 2014, approximately 2.5 to 3 million pounds of marijuana were smuggled into the United States. In 2018, 0.5 million books were smuggled into the United States. However, due to the decline in marijuana, there has been an increase in methamphetamine trafficking in the United States. Fentanyl seizures quadrupled to nearly 1,400 pounds. The United States is very unlikely to legalize drugs like fentanyl or methamphetamine. Due to fewer marijuana seizures, Mexican cartels are now trying to create more potent marijuana to help them meet U.S. demand. There have now been reports of American marijuana being smuggled into Mexico. When it comes to Mexican drug cartels, they do it in several ways. On the one hand, they do it through drug mules. Drug mules were once a very popular movement for drug trafficking; however, they have now moved on to more advanced techniques. One of the most modern ways to smuggle drugs into the United States is through aircraft, self-propelled semi-submersibles, container ships, fishing boats, pleasure boats, non-commercial vessels , and there are also fast boats that cartels will use to try to smuggle drugs into the United States. to outrun American law enforcement. Drug cartels are looking for guaranteed ways to transport narcotics across the world, and one way to do this is to create tunnels. The cartels get very creative when building these tunnels because they have to be very secretive about the exits and entrances. There wasentrances that were pool tables, hydraulic bathtubs, electrical panels and elevators. There was a release in the US which revealed that every time it was used it was filled with concrete, painted and re-carpeted. So it's clear that they pay attention to details and do their best to cover it up. People trained to find these tunnels have even reported that finding them is extremely difficult. In a 2015 article, a qualified professional claimed that since 2006, they had only discovered 11 of these sophisticated tunnels. Believe it or not, it's not always cartel members who distribute drugs. There have been/still are cases where cartels partner with American gangs. The cartels need someone who knows life on American streets. Gang members receive drug money in exchange for the cartel's work. Such as kidnapping, murder, intimidation of others and theft. Cartels get the majority of the money from drug trafficking while gangs face pressure from law enforcement. To hide their criminal activities, some gang members keep their jobs. One of the things gang members are known for is their violent nature. In March 2011, members of Barrio Azteca were charged with the murder of two American citizens, one a U.S. consul and the other a sheriff's deputy. This American couple was ambushed in their car after leaving a birthday party. Mexican police found the couple's baby crying in the backseat of the car. This is a high-profile murder and the motive for the killing has not been disclosed. Barrio Azteca is one of the most notorious gangs with ties to Mexican cartels. This gang operates primarily on the US-Mexico border, between El Paso, Texas, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. This gang was founded in a Texas prison in 1986. This gang recruits people on the grounds of prisons and jails in Texas.Texas. There is often communication between cartels and gang members through prison. High-level gang members can and do be found inside the prison; causing gang members on the street to need an effective but covert way to communicate with them. They will send coded letters that will most likely go through a lieutenant. Then the lieutenant will pass the message on to one of the legends and from there the legend will give the last word. The main source of communication in prison and on the street are coded letters and coded phone calls. High level raids/attacks are normally first ordered by the cartel and then executed/carried out by the gang, the reason this is possible is because the gang is transnational meaning they work on both sides of the border. Normally, during a big hit or attack, the attack is first passed on to high-level gang members before being put into practice. People who joined a cartel and moved to the United States often send money home to their families, increasing their security. the economy of their country of origin. Immigrants living in the United States send more than $54 billion home. This amount could worsen the economic hardship that some low-wage workers already face. During President Trump's campaign, he proposed blocking certain payments to Mexico unless the country's leader dedicated billions of dollars to building a southern border wall. However, this idea has been rejected by immigrant rights advocates. When this idea was brought up, many argued that..