Choose a country, a state, or a community and research the link between drug sales and terrorism in that location. Use the Internet and School Library to find government sources and reliable studies for information. The pronouncement that there is a link between drug sales and terrorism in that location must be backed up with reliable information.
Ace my homework – Write a report addressing the following:
An introduction to and background of the location you have chosen, summarizing the population, kind of people, major occupations, income status, housing status, and such demographics
The kinds of terrorism practiced
The rough percentage of terrorism that is funded by drug sales
The drugs that are the basis of the funding
The actual or anticipated impact of more effective drug enforcement on terrorism
Narcoterrorism: The Case of Colombia
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Narcoterrorism: The Case of Colombia
Introduction
Fundamentally, drug Lords and or traffickers’ efforts to prejudice the policies and structures of a Country or state violently and by means of intimidation to avert implementation of anti-drug rules are referred to as narcoterrorism. The brutality in the opium wars by the United Kingdom is presumably one of the best witnessed and documented instances of narcoterrorism. Precisely, this term was foisted and coined into the Colombian statutes of law by president Belisario Betancur(1982-1986) and supported by the then Peru president Fernando Belaunde- the term applied to indicate terrorist-founded attacks on the country’s anti-narcotics law enforcement.
Background Information.
Colombia is a South American country whose capital city is Bogota. It is the second most populous South American country after Brazil, with a population of fifty-one million people. The average life expectancy of the people of Colombia is 78 years, with that of men being 75 years and females 80 years. 80% of Columbia’s population live in urban areas with a population density of 45 people per square kilometer. The Columbia people are composed of 84.2% mestizos and whites, 10.3% Afro-Colombian (includes mulatto, Raizel, and Palenquero), 3.4% Amerindian. The majority of the people live in the north and west. It is agriculturally fertile and full of natural resources, with the south and east’s grasslands being sparsely populated. Colombia is experiencing a steady decline in its population that is as a result of the steady decline in its fertility level, mortality, and population growth. It has one of the world’s worst income inequality records, with a third of the population living below the poverty line.
Many Colombians have left the country both as legal or illegal refugees searching for better economic prospects, with the United States and Venezuela being the main destinations with Spain being a significant destination from the 1990s due to its economic growth. Colombia is the largest source of Latin American refugees in Latin America. Forced displacement is rampant in Colombia due to the numerous clashes between the Colombian security forces, the guerillas, and paramilitary groups, with the indigenous people and Afro-Colombians being the most affected. It is also a central transit area for illegal immigrants from Asia, the Caribbean, and Africa on their way to the US (South America:: Colombia — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency, 2020).
Columbia has one of the worst unemployment rates in the southern hemisphere. With a rise in unemployment due to the commodities crash of 2014: 2024 – Essay Writing Service | Write My Essay For Me Without Delay that hit most global economies. Unemployment is highest among young Colombians below the age of 24, with more than one in four young Colombians being unemployed.70% of women in Columbia are unemployed compared to men (Reports, 2020). Rural unemployment is worse than urban unemployment. The majority of the Colombian workforce is informally employed, which means they do not receive the social security benefits that come with formal employment. Underemployment is another pandemic facing Columbia, with the statistics agencies considering one hour of work to be employed, which is insufficient to sustain oneself(Reports, 2020).
Drugs in Colombia
Colombia’s growth as a significant distributor of narcotics in the world followed the significant interdiction efforts of officials in Mexico in the 70s. Columbia began supplying almost seven-tenths of Marijuana entering the US market. With the profits from the Marijuana trade, drug dealers diversified into cocaine. Columbia produces 70% of the cocaine consumed globally over the past year. Demand for the drug comes mainly from the USA and Europe, and South America, more recently becoming a significant consumer market. Statistics show that nearly 18 million people consumed the drug in 2018: 2024 – Write My Essay For Me | Essay Writing Service For Your Papers Online, with consumption estimated at around 2000 tons of cocaine. Almost all the cocaine consumed globally comes from Colombia, Peru, and to a very minimal extent Bolivia. These are countries with a rich coca supplier, the plant used to make cocaine (Reports, 2020).
In Colombia, the coca used to make cocaine is grown in the country’s remote mountainous areas where the government has been absent, and the locals have no access to the legal economy. Due to this lack of control by the state, the land is available for all kinds of activities, both legal and illegal, including the cultivation of coca. There are about 169000 hectares of land under cultivation and at least 130000 families involved in coca cultivation, with cultivation mainly done on a small scale. Cocaine trafficking grew from small individuals carrying small amounts to large organized operations using boats and airplanes, operated by Mafia-like organizations known as cartels. Two of the largest cartels in Colombia were the Medellin cartel run by Pablo Escobar and the Cali cartel (Reports, 2020).
Narcoterrorism in Colombia.
Narcoterrorism can be described as the attempt by drug traffickers to influence societal or government policies through the use of violence and intimidation and to hinder the implementation of anti-drug laws by use of violence or systematic intimidation and threats. This term is being used increasingly to refer to organizations engaging in drug trafficking activities to gain recruits and expertise and fund their activities. In Colombia, some of these organizations include FARC, ELN, AUC. Colombia suffered several terrorist attacks in the hands of narcotraffickers between 1984 and 1993. Belisario Betancourt, Virgilio Barco, and Cesar Gaviria were three Colombian presidents who were always fighting against drug traffickers, especially the Pablo Escobar led Los Extraditables or bet known as the Medellin cartel (Report, 2020). Many of their crimes were due to the constant battles against government law (Britannica, 2020). On April 30 April 30, 1984, the minister of Justice of Colombia was killed by a motorcycle gunman from the Medellin cartel. On November 6, November 6, 1985, April 19 April 19 Movement a guerilla warfare outfit held the palace of Justice under siege in order to hold the supreme magistrate’s hostage; the resulting military action caused the building to burn down, resulting in the death of 91 people including the 11 judges. They also deployed the detonation of numerous bombs across the country, with the most serious and memorable one being the bombing of Avianca flight 203 that resulted in the death of 107 people in 1989(Britannica, 2020).
With the annual drug market in Europe being valued at around 24 billion euros. Approximately two-thirds of Europe’s organized criminal groups are involved in the trafficking of drugs (. This is more widespread than any other illegal activity across an organized crime in the European Union. According to research, up to 40% of terrorist activities are partly financed by drug dealing between 2011-2016: 2024 – Do my homework – Help write my assignment online (Organized Crime Module 16 Key Issues: Terrorism and drug.
Effective drug enforcement on countering narcoterrorism
The link between the drug trade and funding of terrorism is one undisputed already established connection. Drug trafficking is highly profitable and whose profits cannot be traced with an impossibility to trace back to legal venues. Further, the illegal drug trade’s lucrative nature primarily to fund terrorist activities is undeniable—most of these terrorist organizations that’s where they get their money mostly. Under the Bush administration, the US began funding plan Columbia; the same was intended to eradicate drug crops and act against drug lords accused of engaging in narcoterrorism (Report, 2020), with us funding large-scale drug elimination campaigns and the arrest and extradition of these groups’ commanders by funding the Colombian military.
The curbing of the international drug trade by arresting and prosecuting these drug cartels will reduce their activities, which will similarly result in the amount of income they earn reducing drastically. This will have a negative impact on their ability to purchase weapons and other tools that they use in their war of terror. These narcoterrorists are only as powerful as the money they have at their disposal, hence to take away that power, the war on drugs, from production, trafficking to the peddlers, needs to be stepped up to ensure the chain of distribution is disrupted. Narcoterrorism has become a global pandemic that can no longer be ignored. The war on drugs is as relevant now as it began, evidenced by the vast number of addicts growing daily (Reports, 2020).
References
Britannica, E.,(2020). Colombia – The Growth Of Drug Trafficking And Guerrilla Warfare.[online] Derived at.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Colombia/The-growth-of-drug-trafficking-and-guerrilla-warfare [Accessed 22 November 2020].
Unodc.org.( 2020). Organized Crime Module 16 Key Issues: Terrorism And Drug Trafficking. [online] derived at :
https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/organized-crime/module-16/key-issues/terrorism-and-drug-trafficking.html [Accessed 22 November 2020].
Reports, C.(2020). Drug Trafficking In Colombia | Colombia Reports. [online] Colombia News | Colombia. Derived at :
https://www.google.com/amp/s/colombiareports.com/amp/colombia-drug-trafficking [Accessed 22 November 2020].
Reports, C., (2020). Labor And Unemployment | Colombia Reports. [online] Colombia News | Colombia Reports. Available https://www.google.com/amp/s/colombiareports.com/amp/colombia-unemployment-statistics [Accessed November 22November 22 2020].
Cia.gov. (2020). South America :: Colombia — The World Factbook – Central Intelligence Agency. [online] Derived at.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/co.html [Accessed 22 November 2020].
