1. Narco-States and the Global Drug Trade

2. How Much Do You Know? Can you name any narco-states?
Where does most cocaine come from?
Where do most opiates come from?
What is the difference between an opiate and an opioid?

3. How Big Is The Global Drug Trade?
In 2005, a study found that the size of the global illicit drug market at was worth US$321.6 billion
The world GDP was US$36 trillion
So the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade

5. Kingpins
Several drug lords have landed on Forbes richest in the world in recent years

6. Drug Trafficking
Drug smuggling carries severe penalties in many countries. Sentencing may include lengthy periods of incarceration, flogging and even the death penalty (in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, etc)
In 2010, two people were sentenced to death in Malaysia for trafficking 1 kilogram of cannabis into the country

8. Global Drug Trade

9. Effects of Drug Trade on Societies
Refugees
Ecuador has absorbed up to 300,000 refugees from Colombia who are running from guerrillas, paramilitaries and drug lords
Violence
Honduras, through which an estimated 79% of cocaine passes on its way to the US, has the highest murder rate in the world
Coups, insurgencies, guerilla warfare

10. What is a Narco-State? Several definitions…
A state whose economy is dependent on the trade in illegal drugs
A state where all of its legitimate institutions become penetrated by the power of the illegal drug trade
A place where illegal drugs are openly traded with governmental approval

11. 5 Types of Narco-States

12. 1) Incipient
Low-level government officials are involved

13. Papua New Guinea
They grow and sell marijuana to motorcycle gangs in nearby Australia
Local police officials work with drug smugglers
Closely tied with the gun smuggling trade
Police officers at Gordons Police station in Port Moresby caught 28 suspects involved in smuggling drugs

14. 2) Developing
Now the judicial system and other high-ranking officials get involved
The benefits of the drug trade begin to spread into the legal economy as well
Crime, addiction and the black market are all on the rise

15. Senegal
Senegal is a transshipment country for getting South American cocaine to European markets
In 2007 two cocaine seizures were worth a quarter of the country’s budget
Many construction projects funded by drug money

16. 3) Serious
Large-scale bribery and widespread corruption of public officials
Substantial violence
Senior government officials are involved

17. Mexico It is a hybrid – a source, transshipment and demand country
Drugs make more $$ than the tourism industry
Mexican "narcogangs" outnumber and outgun the Mexican Army
Since ,000 people have been killed and 12,000 have gone missing due to the drug trade
Mexican Federal Police stand guard over 105 tons of marijuana seized in Tijuana, Mexico

18. Drug Cartels
: Any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations

19. 4) Critical
Almost all levels of government work with the illegal drug trade
Rampant crime
Civilians are either complicit or cowed by the corrupt state agents or drug syndicates

20. Colombia
Until 2011 it was the world's largest cocaine producer, however with a strong anti-narcotic strategy the country fell to the third position, behind Peru and Bolivia
In the 1980s, the 2 major drug cartels were the Medellin (Pablo Escobar’s) and Cali groups.
Throughout the 90's however, these lost power and the power dispersed over many smaller cartels

21. Honduras
In the 2000s the drug trade was being limited in the Caribbean, so the South American cartels needed overland routes into the US
Honduras was weak, poor, and compliant
The attorney-general was arrested for corruption
The police chief was linked to disappearances and extra-judicial killings

22. 5) Advanced The drug economy overshadows the legitimate economy
Government institutions facilitate the manufacturing and distribution of drugs

23. Afghanistan Fragile democracy with internal violence
Opium economy is deeply embedded in the fabric of the country
Insurgents love it because it causes the internal disorder they want
The Taliban help opium farmers, so they help and trust them in return

24. Poppy fields in North Korea
They actively produce heroin and methamphetamines under the direction of the government
State-run collective farms have portions of their fields reserved for poppies
They sell to gangs like the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese triads
Poppy fields in North Korea

25. Venezuela
The current vice president Tareck el Aissami has been accused of supporting drug trafficking and helping Mexican drug cartels. Aissami has been banned from entering the United States since 2017.
In 2016 Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro's two nephews were found guilty of trying to ship drugs into the United States so they could "obtain a large amount of cash to help their family stay in power”
Cocaine trafficking has increased since the early 2000s when the government kicked out the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), accusing its representatives of spying.

26. The World’s Only Perfect Narco State
Colombian drug cartels used the West African country of Guinea-Bissau as Jamaica and Panama increased policing.
The lack of prisons, few police, political instability, and poverty attracted the traffickers
The value of illicit drug smuggling in Guinea-Bissau is almost twice the value of the country’s GDP
Police officers are often bribed.
A police officer's normal monthly wage of $93 is less than 2% of the value of 1 kilogram of cocaine ($8751)
From here, the drugs are often transported through the Sahara and then on to Southern Europe, or flown in through Spain/Portugal, or flown in through “mules”

27. How did it start?
Guinea Bissau's cocaine trade began in 2005 when fishermen found packages of white powder washed up on the beach.
They had no idea what it was, and first put it on their crops (which all died)
Then some Colombians arrived by chartered plane, armed with $1 million in 'buyback' cash, which the locals gleefully accepted.
And it went on from there

28. Is the Netherlands a Narco-State?
Dutch police say that drug syndicates have been given free rein
Critics of the Dutch tolerance policy towards cannabis and prostitution claim the Netherlands has been inadvertently promoted as a major hub for the trafficking of drugs and people.
A large majority of ecstasy comes from here
Half of the €5.7bn a year of cocaine taken in Europe comes through the port of Rotterdam

29. Opiates
Up until around 2004 the majority of the world's heroin was produced in an area known as the Golden Triangle. (Myanmar, Laos, Thailand)
By 2007, 93% of the opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan
This made $63 billion, with 25% going to the opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords and drug traffickers.
Another significant area where poppy fields are grown for the manufacture of heroin is Mexico.

30. Opiates VS Opioids
Opiate: They are naturally derived from the opium poppy
Ex: morphine, codeine, and heroin
Opioid: a pain medication that is very similar to opiates, however, they are synthetic or partially synthetic.
EX: methadone, oxycodone, hydrocodone, fentanyl

31. Decriminalize or Stricter Punishment?
What is the best solution?
The movement toward decriminalization
Many see this as the most effective way to curb violence related to drugs.
Others favor enforcement against violent dealers while also trying to reduce demand.