journal 4:review

Running Head: INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING. 1

INTERNATIONAL DRUG TRAFFICKING. 4

International Drug Trafficking.

Miranda Smith

GEN 499: General Education Capstone

Professor Dariush Azimi-Garakani

01/18/2021

International Drug Trafficking.

Drug trafficking is continuously revolutionizing and notably becoming a threat to the public's social and economic development, majorly endorsing instability, insecurity, and a surge in health issues. Without a doubt, it is arguably one of the most profitable businesses in the world, estimated to add up to 500 billion dollars annually cumulatively. Drug trafficking is the act of getting engaged in pursuing, mass production, distribution, and selling of illegal substances that have been prohibited by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The UNODC is carrying out comparative investigations regarding the drug trafficking industry to gain insight into this business's dynamics. The business has experienced a revolution, majorly due to globalization, which has led to the realization of new business ideas through the provision of a platform that offers access to all types of goods and services regardless of the location. Studies have shown that the drug trafficking industry has gained immense growth, and has become a social problem globally, and will keep skyrocketing if left unattended (Pansters, 2018). Statistics indicate that between the ranges of 450 to 500 tons of heroin are consumed yearly. The main objective of carrying out this research is to come to terms with why drug trafficking has increased over the last few decades and establish how the issue can be reduced if not terminated. Gradually, the drug trafficking industry has repeatedly shown its potential as a vice. In context to value for value, despite the sector being extremely profitable, it, unfortunately, causes substantial social, health, and economic problems to its victims, compared to what it gives back as returns. Comment by MJ A: You did a good job going over your background information throughout this paragraph, as well as establishing the purpose of your research here!

Belhabib, D., Le Billon, P., & Wrathall, D. J. (2020). Narco‐Fish: Global fisheries and drug trafficking. Fish and Fisheries, 21(5), 992-1007. Comment by MJ A: Both the journal title and volume number should be italicized.

This study looks forward to evaluating drug trafficking in relation to global fisheries, where fishery-based trafficking has undergone notable growth. Studies suggest that between 2010 and 2017, the international illegal drug trade was carried out by fishing vessels; however, the major problem faced is the access to limited data and or intentional obscuring of data. Among the chief reason fishery vessels are used to conduct this illegal trafficking is that governments are not perceived as criminals but fishery management concerns after arresting the offenders. Therefore, they are prosecuted by the use of light administrative punishments (Telesetsky, 2014). Fishery-based trafficking is mainly used as an evasion of exposure and seizure. Research has suggested that, since the seizure was halted, drug-shipment trafficking has registered an increase of about 20 percent in the last eight years of the global illegal drugs retail value. This research paper indicates potential risks to the recruitment of small scale fishers due to the enticing returns and the fact that fish stocks are declining. Comment by MJ A: In an annotation, you’d only want to use info from the source you have listed above. Because of this, there shouldn’t be info/citations from a different source in your summary.

Dolliver, D. S., Ericson, S. P., & Love, K. L. (2018). A geographic analysis of drug trafficking patterns on the tor network. Geographical Review, 108(1), 45-68.

This research asserts that globalization influences the drug trafficking model via a cyber-based viewpoint. Drug traffickers have taken advantage of the internet platform, for instance, Tor Network, and carry out an online business of trading illegal substances. This research employs cartographic visualization and exploratory spatial data analysis tools to examine the distribution and recommendation of hallucinogenic drugs such as heroin and cocaine, as advertised in Access to Global Online Research on Agriculture (AGORA), one of the massive global marketplaces in Tor. After the closure of the Silk Road in 2013, the trade of illegal drugs on the crypto markets has tripled, with revenues recording double turnover. Following the re-opening of Silk Road 2 in 2014, it has proven challenging for governments globally to fight against online drug trafficking as the numbers continue to skyrocket, for instance, of the total 1834 items sold on Tor in 2014, 348 were drug items, with the US being predominant in both the country of origin and destination (Mack, 2019). Globally, heroin and cocaine were realized to be nearly solely retail-based, while other psychoactive drugs and directions came from nations with established pharmaceuticals and chemical industries. Comment by MJ A: After summarizing the article, you may want to explain how relevant it is to you goals in researching drug trafficking. That way, you can evaluate how useful this source can be for your final paper.

Mok, S. Y. (2020). ASEAN and Transnational Crime: Gains and Challenges in Tackling Drug Trafficking. WIMAYA, 1(01), 31-38. Comment by MJ A: In APA, the titles of your sources should only use a capital letter for proper nouns, the first word of the title, and the first word after punctuation like a colon.

The research addresses the drug issue, how the case is securitized, and the problems posed by drug trafficking while executing effective solutions in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The region, famously known as The Golden Triangle, incorporates three countries, namely, Northern Thailand, Eastern Myanmar, and Western Laos, and is attached with a bad reputation as the world's prime hub of manufacturing narcotics. The region is affected by these issues chiefly because of the corruption undertakings of the previous Burmese Communist Party (BCP) and its breaking-up into various factions (Ganesan, 2018). To come to terms with the drug trafficking in the region, one has to look beyond illegal drug consumption and criminalization in the area. The article works towards establishing through what ways one would use to curb illicit drug trafficking. However, it categorically notes that the ASEAN region has been ineffective in tackling this multifaceted issue in the area.

Rousseau, R. (2017). West Africa–the Region’s Pivotal Role in International Drug Trafficking. Comment by MJ A: After the source title, remember to include information about where the source was published, like the name of the journal or website, or the name of the publisher if this is a book. This guide can help you format your references according to APA style.

Going by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates, enormous amounts of drugs, up to 40 to 50 tons, destined for the European market has shifted and passes through Africa, thus making it an essential location for traffickers, which turnover profits of up to 1.8 billion dollars. The shift has been as a result of prominence waters and the enforcement of drug trafficking laws in the Caribbean region routes(Klak, 2020). Traffickers can use these considerable profits to destabilize governments that are already weak and manipulate these African region countries' rules. Therefore, Africa faces far-reaching consequences, such as drug addiction amongst the youth, as well as the countries of destination. Countries that fail to establish stability in combating drug trafficking also face challenges such as acquiring loans from international lenders, thus negatively affecting their countries. This research paper dives to examine the effects of the prohibited drugs trade, which takes place throughout the region.

Uzuegbu-Wilson, E. (2020). The Discourse of Drug Trafficking from a Global Perspective. Available at SSRN 3704693. Comment by MJ A: In APA, you’d want to include the DOI or URL at the end of a reference for an online source.

This study looked forward to investigating the global perspective of drug trafficking. The study evaluated information obtained through a desk review research approach and secondary sources of analyzed data via content analysis. The study established that globalization is an accessory to the human species' security, stating, among others, the rapid international expansion of online illegal drug trafficking. The study advocated for global efforts to sabotage any efforts to produce or trade illegal substances over any platform. It calls for leaders to show the political will to fight against corruption at all levels by conveying the structural risks which the nation presents. The global community has not lived up to its desire, mainly because the authority and law enforcers center their attention on the materials and indication of the crimes rather than the income generated by the crimes (McLean et al., 2019). The study also advises for more power to the agencies that are responsible for combating this vice across the globe in order to establish a sense of order and cohesion among the global partners. Comment by MJ A: As mentioned, explaining how relevant this info is as well as the quality of the research can be an effective way to evaluate each source in your annotations.

References:

Ganesan, N. (2018). Bilateral issues in Myanmar's policy toward China. Occasional paper, (38).

Klak, T. (2020). The Southern Command is that part of the US military focused on protecting US interests on the lands and in the waters of Latin America and the Caribbean. As James Stavridis, a retired US Navy admiral, recently explained,“When I was commander of US Southern Com-mand, people would sometimes say to me,‘You are in charge of an important part of the world, Admiral—after all, that’s America’s backyard’”(Stavridis 2018). Placing Latin America: Contemporary Themes in Geography, 43. Comment by MJ A: If this is a quote from the article, and not part of the article’s title, it doesn’t need to be included in the reference.

Mack, R. (2019). Combating the Illicit Goods Trade on the Dark Web.

McLean, R., Robinson, G., & Densley, J. A. (2019). County lines: Criminal networks and evolving drug markets in Britain. Springer Nature.

Pansters, W. G. (2018). Drug trafficking, the informal order, and caciques. Reflections on the crime-governance nexus in Mexico. Global Crime, 19(3-4), 315-338.

Telesetsky, A. (2014). Laundering fish in the global undercurrents: Illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing and transnational organized crime. Ecology LQ, 41, 939.