I have a school project that says i have to write an essay and make a board presentation on narcotics trafficking…I chose cocaine (because CNN and the news its most common) I thought this topic was better than arson and robbery but yuck.
Does anyone have any knowledge, examples, answers about the people, the ways, the lifestyle, the money, the violence, etc…
not very much, but some info.. but i live in the Netherlands, so that’s a different story i guesss…
watch the movie Traffic.
You can watch the movie Traffic, Blow, Miami Vice, and Bad Boys. Yes, they are Hollywood, but they have some truth in them. The drug cartels get high tech just as law enforcement does. My experience with narcotics is that every race and class does it. I have arrested the typical ghetto crackhead to the millionaire sons and daughters who do it. The latter is less common but they are there. Also when shipping it, drug traffickers do any idea smart or dumb that comes in their heads. They will wrap it in foil, ceran wrap, sandwich bags, duct tape, and anything to try and block the scent from the dogs. They will also stuff it into any compartment of a vehicle: Side panels, tires, fender walls, firewall, false roofs false bottoms in trunks and entire floors of suv’s and vans. You should speak to your local narcotics unit and listen to their stories.
Read Snow Blind. Watch Blow and Cocaine Cowboys. Those are all based on very real stories. Read biographies on Pablo Escobar, George Jung, the Medellin Cartel, and Diego Bejarano.
Generally, the lifestyle of a drug smuggler revolves around paranoia. They trust no one but themselves, and they place their beliefs only in palpable things like money, drugs, and bullets.
There are many techniques for smuggling drugs. People have couriers that hide the drugs on their person or in their luggage and try to get it through customs. Richer smugglers may have their own boats or planes for crossing the border. The most powerful cartels have loads of police and customs agents on their payroll and cross the border with impunity.
Violence stems from competition, as well as from attempts at intimidating law enforcement and making them back off. Just last week a Mexican national hero’s family was murdered by drug cartels in an attempt to intimidate the government.
You should end your presentation with this video:
http://www.theonion.com/content/video/dea_recruits_lil_wayne_to_use_up