The West African-Latin America Drug Trafficking Epidemic

The West African-Latin America Drug Trafficking Epidemic PDF Author: Madi Ceesay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 150

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Book Description
West Africa, like any other region in the world, has had to swallow its fair share of modern-day political, economic and social dilemmas. One phenomenon that has had huge negative implications on the political, economic and social spheres of almost every country on the face of the earth is the production, trafficking, marketing and consumption of illicit drugs. The countries in West Africa have not been spared of the negative consequences of illicit drugs. While some countries have an illicit drug production problem, others have a consumption problem. The countries in West Africa have an illicit drug trafficking problem. The current transcontinental drug trade in hard drugs in West Africa is rising at such a high rate and has captured the attention of the world because of the magnanimity of the negative political consequences in the region. The scale of the current Latin American drug trade transmitting through West Africa has never been seen before and so are its political consequences in the region. The fact that diplomats, political figures, non-governmental organizations and almost all sectors of civil society and security services are so concerned about it justifies how very different the present West African international drug trade has become. There is a very high chance that if the current trend in drug infiltration continues, most countries, especially Guinea-Bissau, in the region will be plunged into chaos and political instability because they do not have strong institutions to deal with the infestation. In other words, the infiltration of the region by Europe-bound illicit drugs from Latin America, coupled with the weak institutions in most of the region's sixteen countries, will result in sustained political disorder. Therefore, a well-researched thesis on this contemporary phenomenon is warranted.

The West African-Latin America Drug Trafficking Epidemic

The West African-Latin America Drug Trafficking Epidemic PDF Author: Madi Ceesay
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 150

Get Book Here

Book Description
West Africa, like any other region in the world, has had to swallow its fair share of modern-day political, economic and social dilemmas. One phenomenon that has had huge negative implications on the political, economic and social spheres of almost every country on the face of the earth is the production, trafficking, marketing and consumption of illicit drugs. The countries in West Africa have not been spared of the negative consequences of illicit drugs. While some countries have an illicit drug production problem, others have a consumption problem. The countries in West Africa have an illicit drug trafficking problem. The current transcontinental drug trade in hard drugs in West Africa is rising at such a high rate and has captured the attention of the world because of the magnanimity of the negative political consequences in the region. The scale of the current Latin American drug trade transmitting through West Africa has never been seen before and so are its political consequences in the region. The fact that diplomats, political figures, non-governmental organizations and almost all sectors of civil society and security services are so concerned about it justifies how very different the present West African international drug trade has become. There is a very high chance that if the current trend in drug infiltration continues, most countries, especially Guinea-Bissau, in the region will be plunged into chaos and political instability because they do not have strong institutions to deal with the infestation. In other words, the infiltration of the region by Europe-bound illicit drugs from Latin America, coupled with the weak institutions in most of the region's sixteen countries, will result in sustained political disorder. Therefore, a well-researched thesis on this contemporary phenomenon is warranted.

The Challenge of Drug Trafficking to Democratic Governance and Human Security in West Africa

The Challenge of Drug Trafficking to Democratic Governance and Human Security in West Africa PDF Author: David Edward Brown
Publisher: Army War College Press
ISBN:
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 108

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Book Description
International criminal networks mainly from Latin America and Africa -- some with links to terrorism -- are turning West Africa into a key global hub for the distribution, wholesaling, and production of illicit drugs. These groups represent an existential threat to democratic governance of already fragile states in the sub-region because they are using narco-corruption to stage coups d'état, hijack elections, and co-opt or buy political power. Besides a spike in drug-related crime, narcotics trafficking is also fraying West Africa's traditional social fabric and creating a public health crisis, with hundreds of thousands of new drug addicts. While the inflow of drug money may seem economically beneficial to West Africa in the short-term, investors will be less inclined to do business in the long-term if the sub-region is unstable. On net, drug trafficking and other illicit trade represent the most serious challenge to human security in the region since resource conflicts rocked several West African countries in the early 1990s. International aid to West Africa's "war on drugs" is only in an initial stage; progress will be have to be measured in decades or even generations, not years and also unfold in parallel with creating alternative sustainable livelihoods and addressing the longer-term challenges of human insecurity, poverty, and underdevelopment.

The Challenge of Drug Trafficking to Democratic Governance and Human Security in

The Challenge of Drug Trafficking to Democratic Governance and Human Security in PDF Author: U S Army War College
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781502463081
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 86

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Book Description
West Africa is under attack from international criminal networks that are using the subregion as a key global hub for the distribution, wholesale, and increased production of illicit drugs. Most drug trade in West Africa involves cocaine sold in Europe, although heroin is also trafficked to the United States, and the subregion is becoming an export base for amphetamines and their precursors, mainly for East Asian markets and, increasingly, the United States. The most important of these criminal networks are drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) from Latin America-primarily from Colombia, Venezuela, and Mexico-partnering with West African criminals. These criminals, particularly Nigerians and Ghanaians, have been involved in the global drug trade for several decades, first with cannabis and later with heroin. The problem has worsened to the point that these networks represent an existential threat to the viability of already fragile states in West Africa as independent, rule of law based entities. As part of this new Latin America- West Africa criminal nexus, Guinea-Bissau is generally recognized as a narco-state where state-capture by traffickers has already occurred. There is also increasingly strong evidence linking terrorist organizations or state sponsors of terrorism to the West Africa drug trade, including Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Hezbollah (allied with elements in the Lebanese diaspora), Venezuela, and Iran. These criminal and terrorist groups are also a threat to U.S. national security, because the illicit profits earned by Latin American drug cartels operating in West Africa strengthen the same crimi nal elements that traffic drugs to North America, and the same North African and Middle Eastern terrorist groups and nations that target the United States. The link to AQIM takes on particular significance in light of this terrorist organization's recent takeover of a vast sector of ungoverned space in northern Mali, along with Touareg allies. West Africa's geographical location between Latin America and Europe made it an ideal transit zone for exploitation by powerful drug cartels and terrorist organizations-much as the Caribbean and Central America had long suffered for being placed between South America's cocaine producers and North America's cocaine users. West Africa's primary operational allure to traffickers is not actually geography, however, but rather its low standards of governance, low levels of law enforcement capacity, and high rates of corruption. Latin American traffickers recently relocated a share of their wholesale distribution from the Western Hemisphere to West Africa, with the subregion moving from being merely a short-term transit point to becoming a storage and staging area for wholesale repackaging, re-routing and sometimes (re-)sale of drugs.

Why Has West Africa Become a Nexus for the International Traffickers?

Why Has West Africa Become a Nexus for the International Traffickers? PDF Author: Yahya H. Affinnih
Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
ISBN: 1685260942
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
This book is undoubtedly rich in different diverse sources and literature that are put together into a coherent whole instead of dispersed copious literature on the genesis of West African countries' integration into the world political economy and geopolitics of the drug trade. To the author's best knowledge, there is no similar book that has focused on the recent West Africa drug connection. The book is well-researched and documented. It fills the missing void in the discourse of West Africa drug trade arrangements. This book is one of its kind in the annals of West Africa's drug trade history. This thrust and the thesis of the book is to provide a plausible and sufficient explanation as to why West Africa has become international traffickers' transshipments and transits hubs and cocaine distribution and repackage centers for cocaine en route to Europe. This book is informative for a wide variety of readers such as students, social analysts from different social sciences disciplines, drug policy makers in West African countries, and elsewhere in the world. The book's subject matter is a global-wide problem that concerns all modern human societies worldwide. There are no human societies that are immune to the dynamics of the global drug trade industries that pose threat to human, national, and global security in its wake.

Drug Trafficking in West Africa

Drug Trafficking in West Africa PDF Author: William R. Wallace
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781980967699
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 73

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Book Description
West Africa has become a global hub for illegal drugs transiting from both Latin America and Asia to end users in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. The type of illegal substances has expanded from cocaine and heroin to amphetamine-type stimulants. West Africa is particularly susceptible to influence by transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) due to endemic corruption, minimal border security, regional geographic location, and poor resource management. This thesis determines the impact of drug trafficking in West Africa on the national security interests of the United States. The U.S. strategy derived from the National Security Strategy, as well as the National Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime. This study reports the conditions that exist and are exploited by TCOs in an effort to conduct illegal activities and undermine the security of West African countries and the national security interests of the United States. The significance of this study is that it provides further guidance and research opportunities for scholars and government officials to continue to analyze how the United States addresses the potential of a destabilized West Africa from affecting the national security interests of the United States of America. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION * Background * Primary Research Question * Secondary Research Questions * Assumptions * Definitions of Key Terms * Scope and Limitations * Delimitations * Significance of the Study * Organization of the Study * CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW * Introduction * Section 1: Current Drug Trafficking Trends in West Africa * Section 2: Current National Security Strategy Relating to Drug Trafficking and Transnational Crime * Section 3: Congressional Testimonies and Research Relating to West African Drug Trafficking * Section 4: Summary of Findings * CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY * Introduction * Section 1: Data Collection * Section 2: Credibility of Sources * Section 3: Data Analysis * Section 4: Summary and Conclusions * CHAPTER 4 ANALYSIS * Introduction * Section 1: Overview of Transnational Crime and Drug Trafficking Trends * Section 2: Drugs Being Trafficked through West Africa * Section 3: The U.S. National Interest Regarding TOC * Section 4: Summary of Analysis * CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS * Conclusion * Recommendations * BIBLIOGRAPHY

Illegal Drugs, Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America

Illegal Drugs, Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America PDF Author: Marcelo Bergman
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 331973153X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 166

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Book Description
This book describes the main patterns and trends of drug trafficking in Latin America and analyzes its political, economic and social effects on several countries over the last twenty years. Its aim is to provide readers an introductory yet elaborate text on the illegal drug problem in the region. It first seeks to define and measure the problem, and then discusses some of the implications that the growth of production, trafficking, and consumption of illegal drugs had in the economies, in the social fabrics, and in the domestic and international policies of Latin American countries. This book analyzes the illegal drugs problem from a Latin American perspective. Although there is a large literature and research on drug use and trade in the USA, Canada, Europe and the Far East, little is understood on the impact of narcotics in countries that have supplied a large share of the drugs used worldwide. This work explores how routes into Europe and the USA are developed, why the so-called drug cartels exist in the region, what level of profits illegal drugs generate, how such gains are distributed among producers, traffickers, and dealers and how much they make, why violence spread in certain places but not in others, and which alternative policies were taken to address the growing challenges posed by illegal drugs. With a strong empirical foundation based on the best available data, Illegal Drugs, Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America explains how rackets in the region built highly profitable enterprises transshipping and smuggling drugs northbound and why the large circulation of drugs also produced the emergence of vibrant domestic markets, which doubled the number of drug users in the region the last 10 years. It presents the best available information for 18 countries, and the final two chapters analyze in depth two rather different case studies: Mexico and Argentina.

Countering the Drug Trade in West Africa

Countering the Drug Trade in West Africa PDF Author: Cristina Webster
Publisher: Nova Science Publishers
ISBN: 9781634858670
Category : Drug control
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
In recent years, West Africa has played an increasing role in the global drug trade. In the early 2000s, drug traffickers searching for new routes and markets began shipping South American cocaine to Europe through West Africa. Criminal groups have now expanded their operations in the region to include heroin trafficking and methamphetamine production. While cocaine trafficked through West Africa typically reaches Europe rather than the United States, illicit activities surrounding the West African drug trade jeopardise U.S. goals in the region. The drug trade destabilises governments and funds terrorist organisations, including Hezbollah and Al Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb. In 2011, the State Department launched the West Africa Cooperative Security Initiative to coordinate the U.S. response to these threats. This has been a positive start, but the Caucus believes more must be done. This book provides eight recommendations on how the United States can better assist our partners in West Africa.

Pan-African Issues in Drugs and Drug Control

Pan-African Issues in Drugs and Drug Control PDF Author: Anita Kalunta-Crumpton
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317084330
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 340

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Book Description
Popular ’war on drugs’ rhetoric postulates drug use in the West as the product of the drug production and trafficking roles of non-western societies and non-western peoples within and outside the West. In such rhetoric, African societies and people of African descent in Africa and in Diaspora have received criticisms for their respective roles in drug production and drug trafficking, including the position of many African countries as transit routes for drugs exported to the West. By contrast, the abuse of drugs by populations of African origin around the globe and the harmful consequences of the drug trade and drug abuse on these populations has been little studied. Drawing on contributions from seven countries in Africa; two countries in Europe; and seven countries in the Americas, this volume examines the relationships between drug use, drug trafficking, drug controls and the black population of a given society. Each chapter examines the nature and pattern of drug use or abuse; the effects of drug use or abuse (illegal or/and legal) on other areas such as health and crime; the nature, pattern, and perpetration of trafficking and sale of illegal or/and legal drugs; and past and current policies and control of illegal and /or legal drugs. It will be essential reading for all students, academics and policy-makers working in the area of drug control.

Cocaine Trafficking in the Caribbean and West Africa in the Era of the Mexican Cartels

Cocaine Trafficking in the Caribbean and West Africa in the Era of the Mexican Cartels PDF Author: Daurius Figueira
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 9781475961416
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 222

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Book Description
This book deals with three major developments within the illicit drug trade of the Caribbean Basin that not only changed the nature of the illicit trade but has expanded the expanse of the trade as it now impacts Africa and Asia making it truly globalised. The three major developments dealt with are: the trafficking jump to West Africa by Caribbean Basin drug trafficking organisations, the rise to dominance of the Mexican cartels in the illicit trade of the Caribbean Basin and the evolution and nature of Caribbean gangland and its organic links to the illicit drug trade.

Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Violence in the Americas Today

Drug Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Violence in the Americas Today PDF Author: Bruce M. Bagley
Publisher: University Press of Florida
ISBN: 0813063124
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 271

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Book Description
"An extensive overview of the drug trade in the Americas and its impact on politics, economics, and society throughout the region. . . . Highly recommended."--Choice "A first-rate update on the state of the long-fought hemispheric 'war on drugs.' It is particularly timely, as the perception that the war is lost and needs to be changed has never been stronger in Latin and North America."--Paul Gootenberg, author of Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug "A must-read volume for policy makers, concerned citizens, and students alike in the current search for new approaches to forty-year-old policies largely considered to have failed."--David Scott Palmer, coauthor of Power, Institutions, and Leadership in War and Peace "A very useful primer for anyone trying to keep up with the ever-evolving relationship between drug enforcement and drug trafficking."--Peter Andreas, author of Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America In 1971, Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs. Despite foreign policy efforts and attempts to combat supply lines, the United States has been for decades, and remains today, the largest single consumer market for illicit drugs on the planet. This volume argues that the war on drugs has been ineffective at best and, at worst, has been highly detrimental to many countries. Leading experts in the fields of public health, political science, and national security analyze how U.S. policies have affected the internal dynamics of Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Central America, and the Caribbean islands. Together, they present a comprehensive overview of the major trends in drug trafficking and organized crime in the early twenty-first century. In addition, the editors and contributors identify emerging issues and propose several policy options to address them. This accessible and expansive volume provides a framework for understanding the limits and liabilities in the U.S.-championed war on drugs throughout the Americas.