Columbia became the main place where cocaine is grown and distributed. The rise of cocaine in the 1980’s lead to the rise of many criminals including The Cali Cartel and The Medellin Cartel which included Pablo Escobar. Cocaine is a highly addictive drug and a nervous system stimulant. The drug has many side effects and can lead to death when overdosed. Cocaine is a weak alkaline base which means it can easily be made into various salt forms. It is the purest form as a white pearly substance. It is metabolized in the liver and when mixed with alcohol cocaethylene. Cocaine can be taken orally, sniffing, injection, inhalation and suppository. Between 2000 and 2006 deaths from cocaine abuse approximately doubled, rising to over 6,000 deaths per year. Cocaine was historically used as a topical anesthetic in eye and nasal surgery but, has been replaced in western medical practices.
The Cali Cartel was formed by the Rodriguez brothers and Santacruz and was based in southern Columbia. They were the main rivals of the Medellin Cartel. They made their empire from trafficking cocaine into the United States. The Cartel operated as a tight group of independent criminal organizations. They had started out by trafficking marijuana but quickly went to cocaine because of how much easier it was. At the height of their reign they were to believed to have controlled over 90% of the world’s cocaine market and responsible for the market growth in Europe. The Cartel was a multi-billion dollar business by the mid 90’s. During 1996 it was believed that the Cartel was grossing 7 billion dollars in annual revenue just from the United States. With all the money the Cartel was making they got into the laundering business and they had Gilbert...
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... producer. In the United States 1 in 6 people have claimed to have used cocaine in their life. There are still cartels that are drug traffickers today. As of today there has not been an alternative drug to help addicts stop cocaine use like there has been for many other hardcore drugs.
Works Cited
“Cali Cartel” Web. 8 May 2014. .
"Cocaine." Web. 8 May 2014. .
"Cocaine History: 1990s-2012” Web. 8 May 2014. .
“Illegal Drug Trade in Columbia“ Web. 7 May 2014. .
“Medellin Cartel” Web. 7 May 2014. .
"The Columbian Cartels" Web. 7 May 2014. .
Recent arrests and the diminished opportunity to forward cocaine to U.S had left them with the necessity to embark in kidnappings, auto thefts, extortion, murders for hire, human smuggling, and other felonies not to mention that local demand for narcotics had increased recently. The Tijuana Cartel operations extents from the U.S Mexico border across Central America through the Pacific Route and receives support of one of most violent criminal organizations: Los
The drug dealing process went from distributors, who were the Colombians; the supplier who was Max; and the dealers who were all of the other drug dealers that helped with the cocaine industry. The drug dealers were situated in Washington Heights, which was an area known as the “hot spot” for the war on drugs. The crew learned how to make quick money, and ways to get the most out of their money. This is a reason why the kids went from trying the cocaine out before the purchase to it being prepackaged. The members resorted to this lifestyle hoping to have a better life for themselves and their
The Los Zetas cartel consists of some of the most deadly men in Mexico. Comprised and founded by rogue Mexican Special Ops soldiers they branched off from their former employers (The Gulf cartel) and are now fighting for their territory. Based in Matamoros the Gulf Cartel was the original heavy hitter of Mexico's cartels. Currently the Gulf Cartel is in an ongoing war with the Los Zetas. Lead by El Chapo the Sinaloa Cartel is the current leader of the drug trade in all of Mexico. The cartels are fighting the Mexican government for power over the country. Federal agents target cartels and are able to weaken them but just before the agents can take over a rival cartel comes in and takes the territory starting the whole process over again. The cartels act like a Hydra Kill one Head and two will take its
Grinspoon L, Bakalar JB (1981). Coca and cocaine as medicines: an historical review. J Ethnopharmacol. 1981 Mar-May; 3(2-3):149-59.
The cartels are now in control of most of the drug trades and are successful. The Mexican border gives them the power to go everywhere they desire, making them a relentless force. “To date operation Xcellrator has led the arrest of 755 individuals and the seizure of approximately 5 U.S. Currency more than 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, more than 16,000 pounds of marijuana, more than 11,000 of methamphetamine, more than 8 kilograms of heroin, approximately 1.3 million pills of ecstasy”(Doj 2). Mexican cartels extend to central and southern America. Columbia is the supply of much of the cocaine exported to the U.S. Colombia is under control of South American gangs, they do business with the Mexican cartels to transport drugs the north. The Northern Mexican gangs hold the most control because the territory is very important (Wagner1). They are many different types of cartel in Mexico it also signifies that there are killing each other so their cartel can expand an...
Gootenberg, Paul. Andean Cocaine: The Making of a Global Drug. Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 2008.
Over the last several decades, violence has consumed and transformed Mexico. Since the rise of dozens of Mexican cartels, the Mexican government has constantly been fighting an ongoing war with these criminal organizations. The cartel organizations have a primary purpose of managing and controlling illegal drug trafficking operations in Central America and South America to the United States. Violence on a massive and brutal scale has emerged due to the nature of the illegal drug trade. Because the drug trade is vastly widespread, cartels are often fighting one another and competing in business. Mexican authorities count at least 12 major cartels, but also talk of an untold numbers of smaller splinter groups. (Taipei Times). Five cartels from Mexico have risen to become the extremely powerful amongst all the drug organizations operating in Mexico. The Guadalajara Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, and the Gulf Cartel. These organizations, along with other distinguished Mexican cartels, have plagued Mexico with violence, terror, and fear due to the essence and nature of illegal drug trafficking.
Cocaine (C17H21NO4) comes from the leaf of an Erythroxylon coca bush. It is a drug that effects the central nervous system. It causes feelings of euphoria, pleasure, increased energy and alertness. People under the influence of cocaine often do not feel the need for food or sleep. They also feel energetic and may talk a lot. However, depending on factors such as environment, dosage, and the manner in which the drug is taken, cocaine can have adverse effects such as violent, erratic behavior, dizziness, paranoia, insomnia, convulsions, and heart failure to name a few. Long- term effects of cocaine include, but are not limited to strokes, heart attacks, seizures, loss of memory, and decrease in learning capability (1).
The Mexican drug-trafficking cartels are said to have been established in the 1980s by a man named Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, also known as “The Godfather”. With the help of Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Rafael Caro Quintero, Miguel started the Guadalajara Cartel, which is one of the first to have thrived from association with the Colombian cocaine trade. The two men who helped Miguel Gallardo establish the cartel were arrested, so Gallardo, the single leader of the cartel “was smart enough to privatize the Mexican drug trade by having it run by lesser-known bosses” (The Five Most Famous Drug Cartels”), that he often met with in Acapulco. Eventually Miguel was arrested as well which caused the split of the Guadalajara Cartel into the Sinaloa Cartel and the Tijuana Cartel.
In Jeanette Schmidt’s article, Transporting Cocaine states, “Colombian cartels would pay the Mexican groups as much as $1,000/kilo to smuggle cocaine into the United States” (Schmidt, 2). The Colombian cartels would then pick up the drugs and resume distribution and sales efforts, making personal profits that are unrecorded. In order to seize these individuals who are growing in power and numbers, the U.S. must control the connections between Mexico and Columbia. Mexico is the biggest transporter amongst Columbia and the U.S. because it shares a border with the U.S. This increasingly poisonous drug trafficking leads to drug dealers...
It has provided those in South America an aid in dealing with the hard life associated with living in the Andes. It has seen its use in the medical field for helping patients with pain and has been used for recreational enjoyment. The outlook on this drug varies depending on who and where you ask about cocaine. The drug can be highly addictive and cause serve damage through continued use on both the mental and physical aspects of someone. History has taught us that cocaine can lead to violence as well as the personal downfall of someone’s personal life and it should be treated accordingly. Education is the best form of explaining the consequences of cocaine and through that a nation can only strive for their citizens to be
Cocaine, a powdered narcotic derived from the leaves of the cocoa plant, has been a curious participant in the history of several contemporary cultures. Its ubiquity is an outgrowth of its unique and highly effective properties. While cocaine is commonly known as a highly popular recreational drug, its underlying chemical properties, chemical mechanisms, and chemical effects on the human body, offer an understanding of why the drug remains a resilient participant in today’s culture. We explore these chemical characteristics further.
When the Cali cartel helped the presidential campaign of Ernesto Samper, it gave them a new reason to get involved in politics. Politics helped get away with the law by knowing the slips and cracks in the government by having someone on the other side. With advantages like these, the cartel was walking over the government officials. This led to the organization of hiring and training top engineers to design equipment that could not be bugged. Also, by studying the moves of US Prosecutors and the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration). When government officials or political leaders found out about this corporation, the cartel would offer money and luxuries if they collaborated with their scheme moves and to stay quiet. This would only benefit
Many people avoid the use of crack because of the harmful chemicals used in creating the drug. One of the reasons why crack became popular is because of not needing to inject the drug hence less risks of being infected by the AIDS virus. Carroll (2000) states cocaine is the most powerful stimulant of natural origin. Most users snort or inject the drug to enable a quicker “high.” Cocaine use brings on many health problems.
Cocaine originated from South America, from coca leaves. Originally, the coca leaves were chewed by workers to decrease fatigue, improve endurance and have a greater resistance to the cold. This was to benefit the workers so they could work longer hours and be more productive. In 1855 the active ingredient in cocaine was isolated from the leaves, and in 1880 it was used as a local anesthetic (Nunes,2006). It was also used in coca cola. In 1855, coca cola was a soda beverage that contained sixty milligrams of cocaine for every eight ounces of the beverage. The idea behind this was to give people energy and a sense of well being (Nunes, 2006). By the late 1880s Sigmund Freud was using cocaine regularly and was even recommending it to others. This only lasted for less than twenty years, until he started discouraging it to others. Then by 1914 cocaine was banned for medical use and in beverages. This caused the use of cocaine and by the 1930s, the use had drastically decreased. It then became popular for recreational use in the 1980s (Nunes, 2006). It was often used and shown in movies such as Scarface, and is famous for the amount of cocaine that Al Pacino uses in one of the final scenes of the movie. Now it is still used recreationally and used by a ‘party crowd’. Although this is the primary category of people who use cocaine, people of all demographics use cocaine recreationally.