Drug Trafficking

The world is currently engaged in a War on Drugs, a war that has been waged for decades and which shows no indication of being successfully concluded in the near future. As with other types of wars, this one has fronts both within the domestic borders as well as in foreign lands and the war affects the country 's economic policy and shapes relationships with numerous foreign powers. Military and intelligence services are engaged in the war, as are various law enforcement agencies at the local, state and federal levels. Yet drug use and abuse continues to be strong, and drug interdiction efforts on the international level draw mixed reviews. This research considers the issue of drug trafficking, and examines the political ramifications. Drug traffickers run everything like a business. They sell a product, compete for customers, and market their product; collect payments, payout commissions and salaries for people that work for them. “It is frequently argued that drug dealers can be viewed as entrepreneurs involved in ‘enterprise crime’ and that drug trafficking has much in common with legitimate business” (Desroches 830). A major difference between running a business and upper level drug trafficking is that the traffickers do not follow the rules and regulations that a legitimate business is required to follow. Many people are aware of the financial benefits that can be awarded from selling illicit drugs. Generally, the reward overrides the risk to most people in the illegal drug market. Factors such as economical changes forced those who were used to making a living from repairing and reselling junk to seeking fast money that could generate huge profits. One would think trafficking into US borders wouldn’t be a big issue with all of the technology and man power of the United States. Trafficking into the United States is very difficult to prevent with “more than 295 million people, involving upward of 88 million cars and 4.5 million trucks and railroad cars cross

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