The Geography of the Drug Trade

The Geography of the Drug Trade

Drug trafficking is something that has been around for at least hundreds of years. This problem first emerged as a result of drug prohibition laws placed by the government. Drug Trafficking is currently the greatest serious organized crime problem in the world today. Ever since then there has always been a demand for illegal drugs and the stakes have never been higher. Drugs can be grown and produced domestically, but consumers are always looking for something beyond that; this is when drug trafficking comes into action. Developing countries near the equator have been the main importers of drugs such as cocaine, marijuana and naturally grown drugs. The drugs are transported through strategically planed paths called the "Major Trafficking Routes". Since drug trafficking is such an issue the United States government has had a war on drug trafficking for decades now. An incredible amount of taxpayer's money has gone into properly outfitting the patrolling units with state of the art equipment in order to do their job as effectively as possible. The drug trade has been spreading and affecting national and international school systems.

The greatest supply of illegal drugs is on the southern side near of the equator. Countries such as Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador can grow and produce opium poppy, cocaine and marijuana. The constant sun and fertile land in these countries make it easy to grow and produce large quantities of a highly profited product. The major trafficking routes are paths the exporters use to avoid authorities as they carry out an unbelievable amount of product to mainly North America. The exporters use homemade submarines, speedboats, shipping containers and airplanes to meet the high demand in North America. These methods are of course very expensive so exporters will often transport a large amount at once because to them the bigger the risk is the bigger the profit. The South American countries have a many seaports. The country with the greatest advantage to export is Colombia because it has coastlines on both the North Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. The country has 6 internationally known seaports that scatter from the Pacific and the Atlantic Ocean, giving them a great advantage to transport illegal products. Apart from the seaports Colombia alone has 3,208 km worth of coastline 1,760 km belongs to the Caribbean Sea and 1,448 km belonging to the North Pacific Sea.

The map below illustrates the routes taken by exporters to deliver their products.

It all began in 1954 the United States president Eisenhower set up a five man team to form a committee called "stamp out narcotic addiction. President Nixon was the first to declare the "War on Drugs" as they developed with popularity.