Drug smuggling cases have created a grave concerns in Malaysia. As I go through the “Special Report : Decline in Drug Mules” 2010 by BERNAMA, I feel impel to discuss further about this issue. In this article, the definition of drug mule is not given. But, I have come across a definition from Smith (2010) which stated that drug mules are people whose bodies are used to transport drugs to another country. Moreover, Kusyi (2010) defined drug mule as a phrase that refers to someone who is willing or duped to be a courier, carrying drugs or smuggling drugs to other countries. So we can conclude that drug mule is an illegal action that opposes the law throughout the countries. According to BERNAMA (2010), it is estimated that about 1490 Malaysians are now languishing in foreign prisons for drug related offences including drug mules. For me, it is quite a number to be worried of. Our country will experience a great loss of local energies if the number continues to grow.
However, the statistics from Bukit Aman show a steep decline in number of Malaysians being detained in foreign lands for carrying drugs in 2010 compared to the previous year (BERNAMA, 2010). As a generation of future leaders, I realize despite the fact that the cases reported is decreasing, the problem is indeed critical and if we stay still from the beginning, I strongly believe it could jeopardize our nation’s future. Thus, we should give serious attention to this problem as this article also reported that the members of international drug syndicates are still actively recruiting new innocent victims of drug mules although in smaller numbers.
To begin with, this article has emphasized the victims of the syndicates which are identified to be in between 20s and 30s ...
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...hich depicts that they are not afraid of the punishment.
To sum up, I agree with all factors and suggestions highlighted in this article. I think this report has succeeded in helping me to realize the significance of this problem and has encouraged me to share my opinions to help the government to eradicate this menace. However, deeper explanations should be included and added so that readers will gain more information about this crime from all aspects. I really hope that we can give our helping hands to fight this menace. Prevention is better than cure. Lastly, I agree with Kusyi (2010) when she said that if ago, parents worries when their children went abroad were about halal food, marry a foreigner, forget their origins and their religion or do not want to return home, now parents have to ensure one more thing which is do not let your child be a drug mule!
Approximately given 80 to 90 million Americans have tried an illicit drug at least which once in their lives; marijuana alone is tried for the first time by about 6,400 Americans everyday. Furthermore, illicit drugs seem to be relatively easy to attain- in for 1999, 90 percent said which this about marijuana, also 44 percent about cocaine and finally 32 percent about heroin. Yearly, for which 35 million dollars is given just to control illicit drug trafficking. Moreover, over 400,000 of drug offenders caught are in jail, of which, some 130,000 are which for possession. Not for only are these statistics a international obvious embarrassment but because for these quantities which have been growing throughout history, we can only assume that they will get worse. We can already begin to for imagine the costs of these numbers which is it not already clear that we need for to find an alternative approach to this
Organized crime is a collective result of the commitment, knowledge, and actions of three components: (1) Criminal groups, who are core persons tied by racial, linguistic, ethnic or other bonds; (2) Protectors, who are persons who protect the group’s interests; and (3) Specialist support, which are persons who knowingly render services on an side-job basis to enhance the group’s interests. In order to thrive, an organized crime group needs many different elements. First, it needs an ensured continuity of members, clients, supporters, funds, etc. Additionally, it needs structure, criminality, violence, memberships based on common grounds, and a willingness to corrupt a power and profit goal. Generally, mafia organized crime groups disguise themselves behind the ownership of a legitimate business to avoid questioning from the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) regarding any financial sources. The ille...
South, David. The History of Organized Crime: Secrets of The World’s Most Notorious Gangs. New York: Metro Books, 2013. Print.
Due to the serious consequences of the drug problem and its related crimes in the United States, law enforcement identified six goals to handle cases of such nature. The first goal is to reduce the gang violence associated with drug trafficking and prevent the emergence of powerful organized criminal groups. Organized group are the main distribution of drugs in the community. They sell drugs for many reasons. It’s fast money, help fund other criminal activities and difficult for law enforcement to build a case against them for it. The drugs problem brings other crimes into the community. With drugs comes violence, drug wars and death. It is the main cause of the degradation of the community. Therefore, confronting the root of the problem by
On July 30, Federal agents charged twelve Delta Air Lines employees of smuggling drugs into the
Identifying the victims and rescuing them is the main key to preventing human trafficking, which in turn reduces costs to the healthcare system. Human trafficking is a form of organized crime. It involves a hierarchical system, which is similar to that of other criminal organizations. The traffickers represent every social, racial and ethnic group. Some traffickers are involved with local gangs, while others are members are part of nationally recognized gangs and organizations. Some traffickers are independent and do not have any affiliation with other gangs or organizations. Traffickers exist irrespective of gender. There are several women in human trafficking activities along with men. Several young girls living on the streets, engage in prostitution. Some of them are involved in nationwide organized criminal activities where the organizers of crime force these young girls into human trafficking. It is problematic to enforce anti-trafficking laws because in most of these cases, the victims do not tell the identity of the traffickers with the fear of being
A common misconception about human trafficking is that it only happens abroad, in reality it is happening here, in the United States and in states such as New York, Florida and California. The United States plays a major role in the human trafficking crisis, which offers those who wish to eliminate the occurrence of sex trafficking with an opportunity to consider solutions that can decrease the appalling rates of victimization that happen right here in America. Many cases of sex trafficking are mistaken for prostitution due to the way drugs impact the victims’ behaviors. Victims of sex trafficking often become addicted and dependent upon drugs, and in order to attain the drugs they will perform sexual acts or exploit themselves resulting with drugs as their reward for their behaviors. What is left untold to many is, what is the relationship amongst sex trafficking, prostitution, and drug use? It is proposed that in cities such as Miami, New York City, and Los Angeles there is a relationship between prostitution, sex trafficking, and drug
The “War on Cocaine” has been trying to fight a battle on two fronts. The first objective of the American government is to deter the consumer from using illegal products. The genesis of punishment against users is sited in the 1914 Harrison Act, in which addicts and others that possessed drugs were punished for buying or possessing cocaine or heroin without a prescription (Bertram, 26). This act began a trend that still today allows law enforcement to arrest the user along with the supplier. The supplier (drug trafficker) is the key in this type of police action, because most of the time the user will be unaware of the exact origin of the substance or have any knowledge as to where it was purchased or manufactured. The main problem with this type of arrest is that 70 to 75 percent of the narcotic arrests per year are for possession and only 25 to 30 percent are for actual drug trafficking offenses. Although the user should not be overlooked, a greater emphasis ought to be focused on the supplier in order to reach the actual manufacturer of the illegal substances.
In the 1920’s there was a study conducted by Fredric M. Thrasher. Thrasher studied 1,313 gangs in Chicago and revealed the issue of gangs. He considered the poor in poverty as the area increasing in gangs. This area was known as the “zone in transition” and was referred as in his studies. Thrasher has many law reinforcement and social workers helping him bring a stop to this madness. According to Thrashers studies “Important variables such as the age of gang members or the organizational features of the gangs were not related in a straightforward way to differences in the behavior of gangs” (Cummings 6). Thrasher has analyzed these gangs in many ways to the extent or romantic life in gangs. He helped us distinguish the difference in stereotype gangs and then the actual facts involving them.
Drug trafficking has been a massive concern between the borders of Mexico and the U.S. “since mid 1970s” (Wyler, 1). Drug trafficking is “knowingly being in possession, manufacturing, selling, purchasing, or delivering an illegal, controlled substance” (LaMance, 1). A dynamic relationship exists amongst Columbia, Mexico, and the U.S. the informal drug trafficking economy. This growing informal drug economy leads to many individuals creating a substantial living through this undercover market. These individual drug cartels monopolizing the trafficking market are a growing problem for the U.S economy and need to be located and controlled. If this trafficking continues, the U.S. informal economy will crush the growth of legal industries. The trafficking and abuse of drugs in the U.S. affects nearly all aspects of consumer life. Drug trafficking remains a growing issue and concern to the U.S. government. The U.S. border control must find a way to work with Mexico to overpower the individuals who contribute to the drug trafficking business. This market must be seized and these individuals must be stopped.
Franco, C., (2007, May). The MS-13 and 18th street gangs:Emerging transnational gang threats, Retrieved from http://opencrs.com/document/RL34233/2007-11-02/download/1006/.
Concerned authorities have focused essentially on criminalization and punishment, to find remedies to the ever-increasing prevalent drug problem. In the name of drug reducing policies, authorities endorse more corrective and expensive drug control methods and officials approve stricter new drug war policies, violating numerous human rights. Regardless of or perhaps because of these efforts, UN agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drug industry at $US400 billion, or the equivalent of roughly eight per cent of total international trade (Riley 1998). This trade has increased organized/unorganized crime, corrupted authorities and police officials, raised violence, disrupted economic markets, increased risk of diseases an...
There have been many studies that have been conducted to determine why people become drug dealers, and what makes these drug dealers “tick.” There are four main articles that will be discussed to help answer the question of why people become drug dealers. These articles include “The Motives and Mechanics of Operating an Illegal Drug Enterprise”, “Researching Dealers and Smugglers”, “Researching Crack Dealers”, and lastly, “Drifting into Dealing: Becoming a Cocaine Seller”. In addition to the presentation of these articles and their main arguments and points, answers to the question that were conducted using traditional criminological theories will be compared and contrasted to view the similarities and differences that these articles have in accordance to criminological theories.
Our team presentation focused on three Latino gangs, MS-13 (Mara Salvatrucha), the Mexican Mafia and the Los Surenos gang. My part of the presentation was to provide information on the type of crime these three gangs are known to commit. The crimes committed by the MS-13 gang are varied, violent, and take place all over the country. The FBI even put together a task force called the MS-13 National Gang Task Force in December of 2004 to try to put a stop to this gang’s activities. (www.fbi.gov). Los Surenos or Sur-13, originally based in Los Angeles, has also branched out from turf wars with rival gangs to “for profit”, violent crimes across the country. The Mexican Mafia has a similar story to tell as well in regards to gang crimes, which again range from respect crimes, and retaliatory violence to crimes for profit.
With an average of one murder per hour, El Salvador, a relatively small country of about six million people, is on its way of becoming the country with highest homicide rate in the world. The violence that has become a Salvadoran social norm derives from many different factors, with the main factor being the high rate of gangs. With over 60,000 gang members actively involved in gangs, the nation has been taken under a sort of violence and mass death only caused by wars (Vice News, ‘Gangs of El Salvador’). Yet, I argue that this war does not continue on because of the high position gangs hold in Salvadoran society today, but is found in its impoverished youth. It is in the impoverished youth that violence is found, not because they partake in