Similarities Between Human Trafficking And Smuggling

The world of trafficking and smuggling involves a variety of criminal activities. These activities include sex work, narcotics, forced-labor, and much more. While criminal activities falling under the umbrella of trafficking and smuggling involve crossing national boarders, similarities with smaller cases studies we have looked at earlier this semester arise, but because of the diversity within these criminal activities also ascend.

Sex trafficking victims and the street sex workers we looked at earlier this semester have similar public perceptions that denies them the opportunity to improve their situations through sex. Kleemans and Smit suggest that “discussions of human trafficking tend to overemphasize images of cruel offenders and helpless

Cartels were involved in transnational operations like the Mafia. Both of the mafia and cartel, used the effects of globalization in order to pursue their criminal activities. Their criminal activity often involved crossing trans-national border. With the demand for cocaine in the United States, Colombia cartels imported their cocaine into the united states using aircrafts (Glenny 248). The Mafia similarly used the demand for Italian products like olive oil and mozzarella in the Unite States to produce and ship counterfeit versions of these products. Both these organizations also used their money to gain political influence in order to pursue their interests more freely. They bribed politicians so that legislation worked in their favor. Another similar approach used by both groups was the entrance of legitimate markets. The cartel started a Colombian pharmacy line in order to gain access to chemical for cocaine production, however, the motive in this case was to gain access to chemical products unlike the entrance of the Mafia into the food and other legitimate industries. While these organizations used similar tactics, they had different interests. The Cartels was mostly involved in trafficking cocaine. Trafficking cocaine brought the cartel the bulk of their

Smugglers were often involved in cross-border operation that required the movement of large amounts of marijuana from Canada into the United States. This is different from operation taken on by dealers like Angel and Jojo. These dealers were involved with less amounts of marijuana and local interactions. Smuggling marijuana also involved more people, unlike freelance dealers who typically involve only one person. Gleny reveals a smuggling operation that involved a three-man team. It is interesting to also note the similarities between the motives that lead to both freelance dealing and marijuana trafficking. Gleeny states the case of a marijuana smuggler who was turned to the trade because of a “steady economic decline…” (215). Similarly, in No Way Out, drug dealers were lured into the trade because of lack of economic opportunities. These two operations involve marijuana, but trafficking seems to take a more complex