International drug routes





Chinese authorities issued edicts against opium smoking in 1729, 1796 and 1800.[2] The West prohibited addictive drugs throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries.[3][4][5]







Societal effectsEdit



Violent crimeEdit

Jamaican drug lord Christopher Coke being escorted by DEA agents




Drug trafficking routesEdit


South AmericaEdit




West AfricaEdit



Eastern and southern AfricaEdit

Heroin is increasingly trafficked from Afghanistan to Europe and America through eastern and southern African countries. This path is known as the “southern route” or “smack track.” Repercussions of this trade include burgeoning heroin use and political corruption among intermediary African nations.[38]


Drugs in Asia traditionally traveled the southern routes – the main caravan axes of Southeast Asia and Southern China – and include the former opium-producing countries of Thailand, Iran, and Pakistan.[39] After the 1990s, particularly after the Cold War ended, borders were opened and trading and customs agreements were signed so that the routes expanded to include China, Central Asia, and Russia.[39] There is, therefore, a diversified drug trafficking routes available today, particularly in the heroin trade and these thrive due to the continuous development of new markets. A large amount of drugs are smuggled into Europe from Asia. The main sources of these drugs are Afghanistan, along with countries that constituted the so-called Golden Crescent. From these producers, drugs are smuggled into the West and Central Asia to its destinations in Europe and the United States.[40] Iran is now the route for smugglers, having been previously a primary trading route, due to its large-scale and costly war against drug trafficking.[39] The Border Police Chief of Iran said that his country "is a strong barrier against the trafficking of illegal drugs to Caucasus, especially the Republic of Azerbaijan."[41] The drugs produced by the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, on the other hand, pass through the southern routes to feed the Australian, U.S., and Asian markets.[42]


Drugs are increasingly traded online on the dark web on darknet markets.[43]



Statistics about profits from the drug trade are largely unknown due to its illicit nature. In its 1997 World Drugs Report the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimated the value of the market at $4 trillion, ranking drugs alongside arms and oil among the world's largest traded goods.[44] An online report published by the UK Home Office in 2007 estimated the illicit drug market in the UK at £4–6.6 billion a year[45]





Free trade linkEdit

There are several arguments on whether or not free trade has a correlation to an increased activity in the illicit drug trade. Currently, the structure and operation of the illicit drug industry is described mainly in terms of an international division of labor.[48] Free trade can open new markets to domestic producers who would otherwise resort to exporting illicit drugs. Additionally, extensive free trade among states increases cross-border drug enforcement and coordination between law enforcement agencies in different countries.[48] However, free trade also increases the sheer volume of legal cross-border trade and provides cover for drug smuggling—by providing ample opportunity to conceal illicit cargo in legal trade. While international free trade continues to expand the volume of legal trade, the ability to detect and interdict drug trafficking is severely diminished. Towards the late 1990s, the top ten seaports in the world processed 33.6 million containers.[48] Free trade has fostered integration of financial markets and has provided drug traffickers with more opportunities to launder money and invest in other activities. This strengthens the drug industry while weakening the efforts of law enforcement to monitor the flow of drug money into the legitimate economy. Cooperation among cartels expands their scope to distant markets and strengthens their abilities to evade detection by local law enforcement.[48] Additionally, criminal organizations work together to coordinate money-laundering activities by having separate organizations handle specific stages of laundering process.[48] One organization structures the process of how financial transactions will be laundered, while another criminal group provides the “dirty” money to be cleaned.[48] By fostering expansion of trade and global transportation networks, free trade encourages cooperation and formation of alliances among criminal organizations across different countries. The drug trade in Latin America emerged in the early 1930s.[49] It saw significant growth in the Andean countries, including Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.[49] The underground market in the early half of the 20th century mainly had ties to Europe. After World War II, the Andean countries saw an expansion of trade, specifically with cocaine.[49]

Drug trafficking by countryEdit

United StatesEdit




Political impactEdit


Marijuana was a popular drug seen through the Latin American trade route in the 1960s. Cocaine became a major drug product in the later decades.[50] Much of the cocaine is smuggled from Colombia and Mexico via Jamaica.[51] This led to several administrations combating the popularity of these drugs. Due to the influence of this development on the U.S. economy, the Reagan administration began "certifying" countries for their attempts at controlling drug trafficking.[50] This allowed the United States to intervene in activities related to illegal drug transport in Latin America. Continuing into the 1980s, the United States instated stricter policy pertaining to drug transit through sea. As a result, there was an influx in drug-trafficking across the Mexico–U.S. border. This increased the drug cartel activity in Mexico. By the early 1990s, so much as 50% of the cocaine available in the United States market originated from Mexico, and by the 2000s, over 90% of the cocaine in the United States was imported from Mexico.[50] In Colombia, however, there was a fall of the major drug cartels in the mid-1990s. Visible shifts occurred in the drug market in the United States. Between the 1996 and 2000, U.S. cocaine consumption dropped by 11%.[52]


Social impactsEdit

War on drugs in Arizona, October 2011

Although narcotics are illegal in the US, they have become integrated into the nation's culture and are seen as a recreational activity by sections of the population.[54] Illicit drugs are considered to be a commodity with strong demand, as they are typically sold at a high value. This high price is caused by a combination of factors that include the potential legal ramifications that exist for suppliers of illicit drugs and their high demand.[55] Despite the constant effort by politicians to win the war on drugs, the US is still the world's largest importer of illegal drugs.[55]

Throughout the 20th century, narcotics other than cocaine also crossed the Mexican border, meeting the US demand for alcohol during the 1920s Prohibition, opiates in the 1940s, marijuana in the 1960s, and heroin in the 1970s.[56] Most of the U.S. imports of drugs come from Mexican drug cartels. In the United States, around 195 cities have been infiltrated by drug trafficking that originated in Mexico.[54] An estimated $10bn of the Mexican drug cartel's profits come from the United States, not only supplying the Mexican drug cartels with the profit necessary for survival, but also furthering America's economic dependence on drugs.[54]


With a large wave of immigrants in the 1960s and onwards, the United States saw an increased heterogeneity in its public.[57] In the 1980s and 90s, drug related homicide was at a record high. This increase in drug violence became increasingly tied to these ethnic minorities. Though the rate of violence varied tremendously among cities in America, it was a common anxiety in communities across urban America. An example of this could be seen in Miami, a city with a host of ethnic enclaves.[57] Between 1985 and 1995, the homicide rate in Miami was one of the highest in the nation—four times the national homicide average. This crime rate was correlated with regions with low employment and was not entirely dependent on ethnicity.[57]

The baby boomer generation also felt the effects of the drug trade in their increased drug use from the 1960s to 80s.[58] Along with substance abuse, criminal involvement, suicide and murder were also on the rise. Due to the large amount of baby boomers, commercial marijuana use was on the rise. This increased the supply and demand for marijuana during this time period.[58]


Political influencesEdit



In 1929, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) was formed to resolve the chaos resulting from the Mexican Revolution. Over time, this party gained political influence and had a major impact on Mexico's social and economic policies.[50] The party created ties with various groups as a power play in order to gain influence, and as a result created more corruption in the government. One such power play was an alliance with drug traffickers. This political corruption obscured justice, making it difficult to identify violence when it related to drugs.[60] By the 1940s, the tie between the drug cartels and the PRI had solidified. This arrangement created immunity for the leaders of the drug cartels and allowed drug trafficking to grow under the protection of the government officials. During the 1990s, the PRI lost some elections to the new National Action Party(PAN). Chaos again emerged as elected government in Mexico changed drastically.[61] As the PAN party took control, drug cartel leaders took advantage of the ensuing confusion and used their existing influence to further gain power.[61] Instead of negotiating with the central government as was done with the PRI party, drug cartels utilized new ways to distribute their supply and continued operating through force and intimidation.[61] As Mexico became more democratized, the corruption fell from a centralized power to the local authorities.[61] Cartels began to bribe local authorities, thus eliminating the structure and rules placed by the government—giving cartels more freedom.[61] As a response, Mexico saw an increase in violence caused by drug trafficking.

The corruption cartels created resulted in distrust of government by the Mexican public.[61] This distrust became more prominent after the collapse of the PRI party.[61] In response, the presidents of Mexico, in the late twentieth century and early twenty-first century, implemented several different programs relating to law enforcement and regulation. In 1993, President Salinas created the National Institute for the Combat of Drugs in Mexico. From 1995–1998, President Zedillo established policies regarding increased punishment of organized crime, allowing "[wire taps], protected witnesses, covert agents and seizures of goods", and increasing the quality of law enforcement at the federal level. From 2001–2005, President Vicente Fox created the Federal Agency of Investigation.[59] These policies resulted in the arrests of major drug-trafficking bosses:

Arrested Drug Traffickers
Year Person Cartel
1989 Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo Sinaloa Cartel
1993 Joaquín Guzmán Loera Sinaloa Cartel
1995 Héctor Luis Palma  
1996 Juan Garcia Abrego Gulf Cartel
2002 Ismael Higuera Guerrero[59] Tijuana Cartel
Jesus Labra Tijuana Cartel
Adan Amezcua Colima Cartel
Benjamin Arellano Felix Tijuana Cartel
2003 Osiel Cardenas[59] Gulf Cartel

Mexico's economyEdit

Over the past few decades drug cartels have become integrated into Mexico's economy. Approximately 500 cities are directly engaged in drug trafficking and nearly 450,000 people are employed by drug cartels.[61] Additionally, the livelihood of 3.2 million people is dependent on the drug cartels.[61] Between local and international sales, such as to Europe and the United States, drug cartels in Mexico see a $25–30bn yearly profit, a great deal of which circulates through international banks such as HSBC.[61] Drug cartels are fundamental in local economics. A percentage of the profits seen from the trade are invested in the local community.[61] Such profits contribute to the education and healthcare of the community.[61] While these cartels bring violence and hazards into communities, they create jobs and provide income for its many members.[61]

Culture of drug cartelsEdit

Major cartels saw growth due to a prominent set culture of Mexican society that created the means for drug capital. One of the sites of origin for drug trafficking within Mexico, was the state of Michoacán. In the past, Michoacán was mainly an agricultural society. This provided an initial growth of trade. Industrialization of rural areas of Mexico facilitated a greater distribution of drugs, expanding the drug market into different provinces.[60] Once towns became industrialized, cartels such as the Sinaloa Cartel started to form and expand. The proliferation of drug cartel culture largely stemmed from the ranchero culture seen in Michoacán. Ranchero culture values the individual as opposed to the society as a whole.[60] This culture fostered the drug culture of valuing the family that is formed within the cartel. This ideal allowed for greater organization within the cartels. Gangs play a major role in the activity of drug cartels. MS-13 and the 18th Street gang are notorious for their contributions and influence over drug trafficking throughout Latin America. MS-13 has controlled much of the activity in the drug trade spanning from Mexico to Panama[62] Female involvement is present in the Mexican drug culture. Although females are not treated as equals to males, they typically hold more power than their culture allows and acquire some independence. The increase in power has attracted females from higher social classes.[63] Financial gain has also prompted women to become involved in the illegal drug market. Many women in the lower levels of major drug cartels belong to a low economic class. Drug trafficking offers women an accessible way to earn income.[63] Females from all social classes have become involved in the trade due to outside pressure from their social and economic environments.


Seized drugs in Bogota, Colombia, April 2013

Political tiesEdit

It was common for smugglers in Colombia to import liquor, alcohol, cigarettes and textiles, while exporting cocaine.[49] Personnel with knowledge of the terrain were able to supply the local market while also exporting a large amount of product.[49] The established trade that began in the 1960s involved Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Venezuela and Cuba. Peasant farmers produced coca paste in Peru and Bolivia, while Colombian smugglers would process the coca paste into cocaine in Colombia, and trafficked product through Cuba.[49] This trade route established ties between Cuban and Colombian organized crime. From Cuba, cocaine would be transported to Miami, Florida; and Union City, New Jersey. Quantities of the drug were then smuggled throughout the US.[49] The international drug trade created political ties between the involved countries, encouraging the governments of the countries involved to collaborate and instate common policies to eradicate drug cartels. Cuba stopped being a center for transport of cocaine following the establishment of a communist government in 1959. As a result, Miami and Union City became the sole locations for trafficking.[49] The relations between Cuban and Colombian organized crime remained strong until the 1970s, when Colombian cartels began to vie for power. In the 1980s and 90s, Colombia emerged as a key contributor of the drug trade industry in the Western Hemisphere. While the smuggling of drugs such as marijuana, poppy, opium and heroin became more ubiquitous during this time period, the activity of cocaine cartels drove the development of the Latin American drug trade. The trade emerged as a multinational effort as supplies (i.e. coca plant substances) were imported from countries such as Bolivia and Peru, were refined in Colombian cocaine labs and smuggled through Colombia, and exported to countries such as the US.[64]

Colombia's economyEdit

Colombia has had a significant role in the illegal drug trade in Latin America. While active in the drug trade since the 1930s, Colombia's role in the drug trade did not truly become dominant until the 1970s.[64] When Mexico eradicated marijuana plantations, demand stayed the same. Colombia met much of the demand by growing more marijuana. Grown in the strategic northeast region of Colombia, marijuana soon became the leading cash crop in Colombia.[49] This success was short-lived due to anti-marijuana campaigns that were enforced by the US military throughout the Caribbean.[49] Instead, drug traffickers in Colombia continued their focus on the exportation of cocaine.[49] Having been an export of Colombia since the early 1950s, cocaine remained popular for a host of reasons. Colombia's location facilitated its transportation from South America into Central America, and then to its destination of North America. This continued into the 1990s, when Colombia remained the chief exporter of cocaine.[52] The business of drug trafficking can be seen in several stages in Colombia towards the latter half of the 20th century. Colombia served as the dominant force in the distribution and sale of cocaine by the 1980s. As drug producers gained more power, they became more centralized and organized into what became drug cartels.[52] Cartels controlled the major aspects of each stage in the traffic of their product. Their organization allowed cocaine to be distributed in great amounts throughout the United States. By the late 1980s, intra-industry strife arose within the cartels.[52] This stage was marked by increased violence as different cartels fought for control of export markets. Despite this strife, this power struggle led to then having multiple producers of coca leaf farms. This in turn caused an improvement in quality control and reduction of police interdiction in the distribution of cocaine.[52] This also led to cartels attempting to repatriate their earnings which would eventually make up 5.5% of Colombia's GDP.[52] This drive to repatriate earnings led to the pressure of legitimizing their wealth, causing an increase in violence throughout Colombia.[52]


Throughout the 1980s, estimates of illegal drug value in Colombia ranged from $2bn to $4bn.[64] This made up about 7–10% of the $36bn estimated GNP of Colombia during this decade. In the 1990s, the estimates of the illegal drug value remained roughly within the same range (~$2.5bn).[64] As the Colombian GNP rose throughout the 90's ($68.5bn in 1994 and $96.3bn in 1997),[64] illegal drug values began to comprise a decreasing fraction of the national economy.[64] By the early 1990s, although Colombia led in the exportation of cocaine, it found increasing confrontations within its state. These confrontations were primarily between cartels and government institutions. This led to a decrease in the drug trade's contribution to the GDP of Colombia; dropping from 5.5% to 2.6%.[52] Though a contributor of wealth, the distribution of cocaine has had negative effects on the socio-political situation of Colombia and has weakened its economy as well.[52]

Social impactsEdit


Trade in specific drugsEdit


Four ounces (113 grams) of cannabis

While the recreational use of (and consequently the distribution of) cannabis is illegal in most countries throughout the world, it is available by prescription or recommendation in many places, including Canada and 10 of the 50 US states (although importation and distribution is still federally prohibited).[65] Beginning in 2014, Uruguay became the first country to legalize cultivation, sale, and consumption of cannabis for recreational use for adult residents.[66] In 2018, Canada became the only second country to legalize use, sale and cultivation of cannabis. The first few weeks were met with extremely high demand, most shops being out of stock after operating for only four days.



Some studies show that the increased legalization of cannabis in the United States (beginning in 2012 with Washington Initiative 502 and Colorado Amendment 64) has led Mexican cartels to smuggle less cannabis in exchange for more heroin.[72][73][74]


Alcohol, in the context of alcoholic beverages rather than denatured alcohol, is illegal in a number of Muslim countries, such as Saudi Arabia, and this has resulted in a thriving illegal trade in alcohol.[75][vague] The manufacture, sale, transportation, importation and exportation of alcoholic beverage were illegal in the United States during the time known as the Prohibition in the 1920s and early 1930s.


A field of opium poppies in Burma

Up until around 2004 the majority of the world's heroin was produced in an area known as the Golden Triangle.[76][page needed] However, by 2007, 93% of the opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan.[77] This amounted to an export value of about US$64 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers.[78] Another significant area where poppy fields are grown for the manufacture of heroin is Mexico.

According to the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the price of heroin is typically valued 8 to 10 times that of cocaine on American streets, making it a high-profit substance for smugglers and dealers.[79] In Europe (except the transit countries Portugal and the Netherlands), for example, a purported gram of street heroin, usually consisting of 700–800 mg of a light to dark brown powder containing 5–10% heroin base, costs €30–70, making the effective value per gram of pure heroin €300–700. Heroin is generally a preferred product for smuggling and distribution—over unrefined opium due to the cost-effectiveness and increased efficacy[citation needed] of heroin.

Because of the high cost per volume, heroin is easily smuggled. A US quarter-sized (2.5 cm) cylindrical vial can contain hundreds of doses. From the 1930s to the early 1970s, the so-called French Connection supplied the majority of US demand. Allegedly, during the Vietnam War, drug lords such as Ike Atkinson used to smuggle hundreds of kilograms of heroin to the US in coffins of dead American soldiers (see Cadaver Connection). Since that time it has become more difficult for drugs to be imported into the US than it had been in previous decades, but that does not stop the heroin smugglers from getting their product across US borders. Purity levels vary greatly by region with Northeastern cities having the most pure heroin in the United States. On 17 October 2018 police in Genoa Italy, discovered 270 kg of heroin hidden in a ship coming from the Iranian southern port of Bandar Abbas. The ship had already passed and stopped at Hamburg in Germany and Valencia in Spain.[80]



Methamphetamine is another popular drug among distributors. Three common street names are "crystal meth", "meth", "crank", and "ice".[81]


Methamphetamine is sometimes used intraveneously, placing users and their partners at risk for transmission of HIV and hepatitis C.[84] "Meth" can also be inhaled, most commonly vaporized on aluminum foil or in a glass pipe. This method is reported to give "an unnatural high" and a "brief intense rush".[85]





Temazepam, a strong hypnotic benzodiazepine, is illicitly manufactured in clandestine laboratories (called jellie labs) to supply the increasingly high demand for the drug internationally.[89] Many clandestine temazepam labs are in Eastern Europe. The labs manufacture temazepam by chemically altering diazepam, oxazepam or lorazepam.[90] "Jellie labs" have been identified and shut down in Russia, the Ukraine, Czech Republic, Latvia and Belarus.[91]

Surveys in many countries show that temazepam, MDMA, nimetazepam, and methamphetamine rank among the top illegal drugs most frequently abused.[92][93][94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102]


Cocaine is a highly prominent drug among many drug dealers and manufacturers. The cocaine black market distribution industry is worth more than 85 billion dollars. It has been a heavily fought over and massively produced. Around 1.1 million kilograms of cocaine were made in 2009 and it is believed to have been consumed by around 17 million people worldwide. This drug's mass trade is believed to have been possible by notorious drug dealing kingpin Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán who ran the Sinaloa Cartel.[103]

See alsoEdit


  8. ^ Organized Crime – American Mafia, Law Library – American Law and Legal Information
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  22. ^ International Crisis Group. "The Tunisian Exception: Success and Limits of Consensus Archived 2014-08-08 at the Wayback Machine". 5 June 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2014.
  23. ^ a b "Drug-Related Crime – Fact sheet – Drug Facts". Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  24. ^ "Out of control". The Economist. 2013-03-09. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  25. ^ Holmes, Jennifer S.; Piñeres, Sheila Amin Gutiérrez De; Curtin, Kevin M. (2007-04-01). "A Subnational Study of Insurgency: FARC Violence in the 1990s". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism. 30 (3): 249–265. CiteSeerX doi:10.1080/10576100601148456. ISSN 1057-610X.
  36. ^ Kijk magazine, February 2012
  38. ^ "Africa is heroin's new highway to the West". The Economist. 31 January 2019.
  39. ^ a b c Chouvy, Pierre-Arnaud (2010). Opium: Uncovering the Politics of the Poppy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. p. 63. ISBN 9780674051348.
  40. ^ Bowman, Marion Eugene (2007). Transnational Threats: Smuggling and Trafficking in Arms, Drugs, and Human Life. Westport, CT: Praeger Security International. p. 97. ISBN 9780275994044.
  42. ^ McPhedran, Ian (2017). The Smack Track. Sydney: HarperCollins Australia. ISBN 9781460707555.
  44. ^ "World Drug Report – Global Illicit Drug Trends". Retrieved 2011-11-26.
  51. ^ "Drug Trafficking in the United States". Policy Almanac. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  53. ^ a b Quinones, Sam (March–April 2009). "State of War". Foreign Policy. 171 (171): 76–80. JSTOR 20684853.
  55. ^ a b Naim, Moises (May–June 2009). "The American Prohibition on Thinking Smart in the Drug War". Foreign Policy. 172 (172): 167–168. JSTOR 20684881.
  56. ^ Gootenberg, Paul (2012). "Cocaine's Long March North, 1900–2010". Latin American Politics. 54 (1): 159–180. doi:10.1111/j.1548-2456.2012.00146.x. Retrieved 20 October 2013.[permanent dead link]
  58. ^ a b Jacobson, Mireille (Nov 2004). "Baby Booms and Drug Busts: Trends in Youth Drug Use in the United States, 1975–2000". The Quarterly Journal of Economics. 119 (4): 1481–1512. CiteSeerX doi:10.1162/0033553042476125. JSTOR 25098723.
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  60. ^ a b c Salvador Maldonado, Aranda (April 2013). "Stories of Drug Trafficking in Rural Mexico: Territories, Drugs and Cartels in Michoacan". European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies. 94 (94): 43–66. JSTOR 23408421.
  64. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Thoumi, Francisco (Jul 2002). "Illegal Drugs in Colombia: From Illegal Economic Boom to Social Crisis". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science: Cross-National Drug Policy. 582 (2): 102–116. doi:10.1177/0002716202058002008. JSTOR 1049737.
  65. ^ "Marijuana Law and Legal Definition".
  67. ^ "GDS: the world's biggest drug survey".
  68. ^ "The usage of Marijuana as food ingredients".
  69. ^ Greg Campbell (13 July 2012). "Blunt Trauma – Marijuana, the new blood diamonds". The New Republic.
  76. ^ See McCoy, A; The Politics of Heroin, Lawrence Hill, 2003
  80. ^ I talian Police Make Major Heroin Haul On Ship From Iran
  81. ^ Street Terms: Methamphetamine Office of National Drug Control Policy
  84. ^ NIDA (2008). "NIDA InfoFacts: Methamphetamine".
  103. ^ Crowley, Julian. "BUSINESS 10 Largest Illegal Drug Trades on Earth". Business Pundit. Retrieved 30 March 2019.

External linksEdit