Understanding Drug Trafficking as a form of Socio-

Economic Crime
Submitted to:

Mrs. Priyanka Dhar

Faculty of Criminal Law (Honours I)

Submitted by:

Yash Tiwari
Roll no. 190

Semester VIII, Section A

B.A. LLB (Hons.)

Submitted on:
April 6th, 2017

HIDAYATULLAH NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

Uparwara Post, Abhanpur, New Raipur (C.G.) – 492002
 Acknowledgements
I feel highly elated to work on the project “Understanding Drug Trafficking as a form of Socio
Economic Crime”. The practical realisation of the project has obligated the assistance of many
persons. Firstly, I express my deepest gratitude towards Mrs. Priyanka Dhar Faculty of Criminal
Law, to provide me with the opportunity to work on this project. Her able guidance and supervision
in terms of her lectures were of extreme help in understanding and carrying out the nuances of this
project.

I would also like to thank The University and the Vice Chancellor for providing extensive database
resources in the library and for the internet facilities provided by the University.

Some typography or printing errors might have crept in, which are deeply regretted. I would be
grateful to receive comments and suggestions to further improve this project.

Yash Tiwari
Roll. No. 190
Semester VIII, Section A

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Contents
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................................... 2
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 4
Statement of Problem................................................................................................................................... 5
Hypothesis..................................................................................................................................................... 5
Objective ....................................................................................................................................................... 5
Literature Review .......................................................................................................................................... 5
Scope of Study .............................................................................................................................................. 7
Research Methodology ................................................................................................................................. 7
An Introduction to Drugs and Transnational Crime ...................................................................................... 8
Drugs ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
Socio-Economic Crime ............................................................................................................................. 9
Drugs and Socio-Economic Crime Relationship .......................................................................................... 11
Drug-defined offenses ............................................................................................................................ 11
Drug-Related Offences ............................................................................................................................ 12
Drug-Using lifestyle ................................................................................................................................. 12
Understanding Impact of Drug Trafficking.................................................................................................. 14
Narco-States and Relation between Drug Trafficking and Terrorism ......................................................... 17
Afghanistan ............................................................................................................................................. 19
North Korea............................................................................................................................................. 19
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................................... 21
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 22
Primary Sources ...................................................................................................................................... 22
Reports ................................................................................................................................................ 22
Secondary Sources .................................................................................................................................. 22
Books ................................................................................................................................................... 22
Articles ................................................................................................................................................ 22
Websites.............................................................................................................................................. 23

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 INTRODUCTION

This research project deals with the drug trafficking as a form of socio crime. The global illicit
drug trade is transnational by nature. In order to understand the relationship between drug
trafficking and crime, it is important to have the basic knowledge of both. Thus, this research
project first briefly introduces about drug trafficking, drug abuse and socio-economic crime. The
existence of relationship between drug trafficking and crime is widely accepted. The connection
between drug trafficking and crime is very complex. Many studies educate us about the close
relationship between drugs and crime. This research project thoroughly analyses the relationship
between the drug trafficking, drug abuse and crime. This research paper also deals with the various
important ways that drugs and crime are related i.e., Drug-defined offenses, Drug-related offences
and Drug-using lifestyle. This research paper will also deal with the impact of Drug Trafficking
on society. For example – it is now legal to use marijuana in Colorado, any trafficking will be
considered as legal. While in India, it is illegal to possess, use or transfer marijuana. So we can say
that, some drug related crimes are considered illegal in some countries might not be illegal in some
other countries. Lastly, this research paper will deal with the various statistics regarding the crime
relating to drug trafficking, drug abuse etc. Assessing the economic and social consequences of
illicit drug abuse and trafficking, however, implies first, that some measure of the magnitude of
the problem is available and secondly, that there is some conceptual clarity about the nature of the
consequences of these activities. As knowledge stands, neither of those requirements is fulfilled.
Estimates of the extent of illicit drug production, distribution and consumption vary enormously,
and are often contingent upon the methodology and political orientation of the observer. Work on
setting international comparative standards for measuring the economic and social consequences
of drug abuse is only just beginning4 and, given the complex nature of the problem, will evolve
slowly.

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 Statement of Problem
To analyse drug trafficking as a form of social-economic and look into major states involved in
drug trafficking and thereby understanding how drug trafficking helps various terrorist
organizations and thereby impacting society and its economics in a negative manner.

Hypothesis
Drug Trade is a crime which has no borders and has a negative impact on the society and economy
and more so it has a direct link with terrorism.

Objective
. The various objectives of this research project are as follows:-

 To understand briefly about drugs trafficking, drug abuse and socio economic crime.
 To study the relationship between drug trafficking and socio economic crime.
 To understand the impact of drugs on society.
 To study the relationship between drug trafficking and terrorism.

Literature Review
Books:-

 Trevor Bennett & Kathy Holloway, Drug- International Crime Connections, Cambridge
University Press Publications, 2007

This book mainly focuses on the connections between drugs and international crime. Drug
trafficking and crime shares a very complex relationship. This book also provides the study of
5,000 arrestees who were interviewed as a part of New English and Welsh Arrestee Drug Abuse
Monitoring (NEW-ADAM) programme. To understand the relationship between drug trafficking

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 andcrime. It is important to study the nature of both. This book provides a depth study of nature
of drugs and crime. This book also gives an insight of gender and drugs, ethnicity and drugs, gangs,
guns, drug markets, and treatment needs which were helpful in the topic. At the end of this book,
a brief summary has been provided which was helpful in understanding the relationship between
drugs and crime.

 Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan, and Robert Reiner, The Oxford Handbook of Criminology, Oxford
University Press Publications, United Kingdom, 2012

This book specifically deals with the crime. This book gave an insight of crime due to drug use
and alcohol consumption. This book also provides information regarding the review of trends in
Drug and alcohol use from 1950s to 2011. Law enforcement plays an important role in prevention
of the drugs. Thus,to understand the role played by the laws in order to prevent drug trafficking, it
is important to have knowledge about law enforcement and drugs prevention. This book gives a
brief knowledge regarding the role played by the law enforcement in a country. This book also
talks about the role played by the Multi-Agencies in prevention of drug misuse.

Articles:

 Alex Stevens, Mike Trace and Dave Bewley-Taylor, Reducing Drug Related Crime: An Overview
of the Global Evidence, the Beckley Foundation Drug Policy Programme, 2005

 Kwesi Aning and John Pokoo, Understanding the nature and threats of drug trafficking to the
World, Stability: International Journal of Security & Development

 Trevor Bennett and Kathy Holloway, Understanding Drugs, Alcohol and Crime, Open University
Press, McGraw-Hill Education, 2005

Websites:

 https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics/data.html

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 Scope of Study
The scope of this project is limited to the understanding drug trafficking as a form of socio
economic crime and role of narco states in financing and promoting terrorism

Research Methodology
In this research, descriptive research methodology has been used. Primary and Secondary sources
of data has been used in the project.

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 An Introduction to Drugs and Transnational Crime

Drugs
"The term illicit drugs is used to describe drugs which are under international control (and which
may or may not have licit medical purposes) but which are produced, trafficked and/or consumed
illicitly."1

'Drug' is a term of varied usage. It can also be referred as a substance, which has a potential to
cure various diseases as well as a substance that helps a particular group to generate money by
trafficking it. In 21st century, trafficking of drugs has become a global problem. It is increasing
day by day not only in India but also globally. The illicit trades in drugs have a devastating impact
on the developing world. Drug trafficking also have a devastating impact on a country as it affects
country economy and society. It is also the major source of income for a terrorist group. A terrorist
group illicitly trade drugs to generate money and with this money, they purchase weapons for
themselves. It has been suggested that Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) and Hezbollah
have earned tens of millions of dollars through such illicit dealings, and then used these funds to
finance terrorist operations in Africa and elsewhere.2 So, it can be said that groups engaging in
drug trafficking also engage in other sorts of violent and criminal enterprise, from mass murders
and human smuggling.3 Human trafficking to also an important source of income for the terrorists
groups. In the United States, for example, UNODC estimates that smugglers are paid around $7
billion to bring 2.7 million Latin Americans over the border every year. Drug trafficking nowadays
has become organized crimes. Groups seeking money and profit through illegal activity like drug
trafficking comes under the ambit of organized crimes. These groups also blackmail people to

1
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) on Illicit Drugs
2
David E. Brown, “The Challenge of Drug Trafficking to Democratic Governance and Human Security in West
Africa,” Letort Papers (Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army War College Press, 2013), Available at -
http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/pub1151.pdf.
3
Jeremy Haken, Transnational Crime In The Developing World, Global Financial Integrity, Available at -
http://www.gfintegrity.org/storage/gfip/documents/reports/transcrime/gfi_transnational_crime_web.pdf

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trade drugs and in return, they offer them huge sum of money. This can also be called as
'Racketeering'.

Profits earned through drug trafficking can also be used to criminalize the state also. Traffickers
can use their profits to fund that electoral campaigns and they can be an elected official of the state
by using profits which he earned through drug trafficking. According to UNESCO, when this
happens, “criminals become, both personally and officially, the servants of the very State whose
laws they violate, as some sectors of State administration are placed under their legal
responsibility.”4

Drug users are also increasing day by day. The estimated number of drug users has actually risen
by 6 million to 246 million (range: 162 million-329 million) owing to the increase in the global
population.5 It is estimated that almost a quarter of a billion people between the ages of 15 and 64
years used an illicit drug in 2013.6 According to Global estimates of the use of various drugs,
around 7 percent of world population has used drug.7 These figures projects the increasing use of
drugs globally. Even if the proper prevention of drugs laws exists in every country, the trafficking
of drugs is increasing day by day.

Socio-Economic Crime
Offences are of two types viz., (1) conventional offences where mens rea is an essential ingredient,
(2) non-conventional offences where no mens rea is required and they are termed as public welfare
offences8, white-collar crimes9, and socio-economic offences.10

4
1 Fabre, Guilhem and Michel Schiray, “Globalisation, Drugs and Criminalisation: Final Research Paper on Brazil,
China, India and Mexico,” UNESCO, 2002, Part 1: Drug Trafficking and the State, p. 2., Available at - ,
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001276/127644e.pdf.
5
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report, Accessed on Oct 20, 2015, Available at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/WDR15_Chapter_1.pdf
6
Ibid
7
Ibid
8
Francis Bower Sayre, “Public Welfare Offences”, 33 Col.L.R. 55 (1933).
9
E.H. Sutherland, White Collar Crime. (1949), p.9
10
Fortv-seventh Law Commission Report. (1972), p.4. 9

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Causes of Socio-economic Crimes: As in general, in India and in other countries, industrial
revolution, transition from rural and traditional society to industralised society, extreme business
competitiveness and post World War-II conditions had given birth to socio-economic criminality.
It cannot be denied that the technological and scientific developments led to the dilution of
people’s faith in the ultimate or absolute, with the result that the fear of the “world beyond” was
eroded as a result there was a decline in ethical, moral and spiritual values. This in turn brought
the love for material happiness and the greed for money irrespective of emphasis for moral and
ethical values. Socio-economic Crimes stem from this lure for money, particularly in the upper
and middle class people in industry, trade, business, occupation, profession and public offices.
These crimes continued to multiply partly because of their nature and partly because of the State’s
attitude of “laissez. fair” philosophy and further more because of lack of any concerted and
organised public resentment. Though, the adverse, effects of the crimes are in evidence all around
us, and their grave consequences are obvious, a little attention has been paid to the study of the
genesis, prevention, control and eradication of these crimes in our country.

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 Drugs and Socio-Economic Crime Relationship

The global illicit drug trade is socio economic by nature. It generates more than $400 billion a year
which represents almost 1 percent of the world’s economy. The importance of this global illicit
drug market is of concern, so much so that the member countries of the United Nations(UN) have
called for a global eradication of production by year 2019. Despite successful efforts in recent
years by governments to reduce production, and thus availability of drugs, analyses of long-term
trends show that global potential production of drugs is increasing.
As it has been mentioned earlier, drug and crime shares a very complex relationship. We cannot
say that people who use drugs commits crime or people who commit crime are inclined towards
drug use. Drugs are related to crime in many ways. In many countries, it is crime to sell,
manufacturing, possess and trade those drugs which have a potential for abuse. Some of the drugs
that have a potential for abuse are Cocaine, Marijuana, and crystal meth. Many times, drug effects
generate violence and other illegal activity. There are basically three types of crimes related to
drugs:

Drug-defined offenses

Drug-defined offences are also known as system related crimes. These are those offences in which
an individual produce, manufacture, transport and sell drugs. Drug-defined offences also include
violence related to the production or sale of drugs, such as a turf war. 11 Examples of drug-defined
offences are Drug possession, Marijuana cultivation, Methamphetamine production, cocaine,
heroin, or marijuana sales. Drug Trafficking comes under the ambit of Drug-defined offences as it
includes trading of those drugs, which have a potential of abuse. According to world drug report
2015, there are about 329,000 thousand persons in the world who are using illicit drug.12 All these

11
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Alcohol, Drugs and Crime, Available at -
https://ncadd.org/about-addiction/alcohol-drugs-and-crime
12
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report, Accessed on Oct 20, 2015, Available at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/WDR15_Chapter_1.pdf

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persons can be called as criminals as they trade, use and possess those drugs which have a potential
of abuse. Selling drugs to acquire money to finance a drug habit is a common behavior among
users in the world and is considered as an offence by every country.

Drug-Related Offences
Drug-Realted offences are those offences which includes those persons who ingest drugs and
commit crimes as a result of effect the drug has on their thought processes and behavior.13 This is
the most commom type of behavious among criminals. Many of the offences committed by them
are after using drugs. For example, violent behavior after drug abuse. Stealing to get money to
buy more drugs. Violence against rival drug dealers. Driving while intoxicated also comes under
the ambit of Drug-Related offences. Drinking and drugged driving is the number one cause of
death, injury and disability of young people under the age of 21, and nearly 40% of all traffic
fatalities are alcohol related. Every day 36 people die and approximately 700 are injured in motor
vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana
and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths, often in combination with
alcohol.14 There are also high number of cases in which there is drug-related death. UNODC
estimates that in 2013 there were 187,100 (range: 98,300-231,400) drug-related deaths15

Drug-Using lifestyle
In this, drug abuse becomes the habit of the individual. As we all know that drug use is considered
deviant in society. Continuous drug abuse leads to motivate the need for money. Regular drug
abuse also make a person frequent in illegal activity because that person needs money in order to
buy more drugs and satisfy his needs. This frequency in illegal activites, becomes the habit id the
individual and ultimately, it becomes his lifestyle. For example - If a person is a drug addict. He
needs more money to purchase drugs and satisfy his needs. In order to do that, he start stealing

13
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Alcohol, Drugs and Crime, Available at -
https://ncadd.org/about-addiction/alcohol-drugs-and-crime
14
Ibid
15
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report, Accessed on Oct 20, 2015, Available at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/WDR15_Chapter_1.pdf

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money. Now, if he consumes all the drug that he brought from stolen money, he will try to make
more money and he will search more ways to buy drugs. Soon, it will become a habit and
ultimately, it will become his lifestyle.

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 Understanding Impact of Drug Trafficking

Drug Trafficking has various impacts on the society. The main impact of Drug trafficking is on
family. Drug trafficking can lead to family breakdown. The country study on Thailand attributes
increasing use of heroin and psychotropic substances to urbanization, rapid cultural change and a
breakdown in family cohesion.16 So we can say that, drug abuse can transform family from an
asset of society into a burden. In slum areas, there is a high amount of drug trafficking. It affects
children who are brought up in that area. This act as a motivational factor. When they grow up,
they also start trading drugs. While family plays as an important source of drug problems, it can
also act as a treatment for drug abuse. Mother teaching his son about what's right in the society
and what is not can influence him and he can give away his drug habits. But this rarely happens in
a society.

Drug abuse also has negative impact on health. Drug is a toxic substance it directly affects human
health. Substances like heroin, cocaine, opiates etc can have negative impact on health and
overdose of these drugs can even lead to death. According to the statistics, in the United States
alone, there were 532,000 drug-related emergency room visits in 1995, up from 404,000 in 1988:
an increase of more than 30 per cent. This clearly demonstrates the magnitude of drug-related
health problems, both for the addicts concerned and for society, which is burdened with the health
costs related to drugs abuse.17 Drug injectors also face health issues. Needle sharing is common
among drug injectors. This can lead to AIDS and other diseases. According to UNDOC, 13.5
percent of the drug injector suffers from AIDS.18 Moreover, this number is still rising because of
needle sharing among drug injectors.

16
Anchalee Singhanetra-Renard, "Socio-economic and political impact of production, trade and use of narcotic
drugs in Thailand", draft study prepared for UNRISD and the United Nations University (1993), p. 87.
17
The National Drug Control Stategy: 1996, op.cit., p.88 and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration, Preliminary Estimates from the Drug Abuse Warning Network, Advance Report Number 17, 1996
18
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report, Accessed on Oct 20, 2015, Available at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/WDR15_Chapter_1.pdf

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Drug abuse also hampers the study of the students. Students who are a victim of drug abuse suffer
from short term memory and other intellectual capabilities of brain. It ultimately leads to poor
academic performance, which creates a psychological impact on student. Because of this, he
increases drug consumption. A student then creates a vicious circle in which only drug abusers are
there. This vicious group, sometimes, commits crime in order to gain money and purchase drugs.
Education can also help in prevention of Drug abuse. If proper education is provided to the
students. It might influence them to stop taking drugs. Providing proper education is a long term
process. It is not easy to educate student in just one day. Only problem with this type of education
facilities is that these education facilities are not easily available and if available, they have a huge
amount of fees which is impossible to pay for lower class people. Moreover, it is nearly impossible
for drug addicts to stop taking drugs if proper education facilities are provided to them.Drug
trafficking also affects environment in several ways. Many drug traffickers, in order to produce
drugs, clears the forest area and start growing those crops by which drugs can be made.
Deforestation for the purpose of growing marijuana and coca plants are the common example for
environment damage. Illicit coca bush cultivation and coca leaf transformation into cocaine lead
to serious environmental damage. n. In Colombia alone, roughly 290,000 ha of forest were lost
directly to coca bush crops between 2001 and 2013.19

The main impact of drug trafficking is on society. As it has been already stated that, drug abuse
influences crime. Drug trafficking and crime shares a very close relationship. Drug increase many
kinds of criminal activities. Most of the drug-related crime occurs in the form of drug trafficking.
There are conflicts among groups competing for more amount of market share. It also results in
theft and prostitution because drug consumers wants to satisfy their needs and in ordr to do that,
they would commit another crime as theft and prostitution. In the United Kingdom, it is estimated
that, with under 165,000 people in treatment for heroin and/or “crack” dependency, an estimated
4.9 million acquisitive crimes such as burglary, robbery and shoplifting were prevented during
2010-2011.20

19
Ibid
20
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report, Accessed on Oct 20, 2015, Available at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/WDR15_Chapter_1.pdf

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The drug trade produces billions of dollars for organized crime every year, forcing endless
expenses on people, families, groups, and governments around the world. Drug abuse ruins
individual lives, drains billions of dollars every year. Drug trafficking and drug abuse may also
lead to increase in terrorist activity of a country. As it has been mentioned earlier, terrorist group
with the activities like human trafficking and drug trafficking increase their wealth. With this
wealth, they purchase weapons. Now, they have no restriction and they can attack whenever they
want to.

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 Narco-States and Relation between Drug Trafficking and

Terrorism
Organized crime and terrorism have two differing goals. Organized crime's business is business.
The less attention brought to their lucrative enterprises, the better. The goal of terrorism is quite
the opposite. A wide-ranging public profile is often the desired effect. Despite this, the links
between organized crime and terrorism are becoming stronger in regards to the drug trade.
Organized crime groups often run the trafficking organizations while the terrorists and insurgent
groups often control the territory where the drugs are cultivated and transported. The relationship
is mutually beneficial. Both groups use funds garnered from the drug trade to finance their
organizations and operations.

"FARCLANDIA"

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (known by the Spanish acronym FARC) was
established as a communist insurgency group intent on overthrowing the Colombian government.
In 1990, however, their ideological leader Jacobo Arenas died. His successors had very little
qualms about breaching their ideological ethics. FARC had for a long time "taxed" narcotics
traffickers. By the mid-1990s FARC guerillas began to take a more in-depth role in the trafficking
process by supplanting themselves as the middlemen between the farmers and the cocaine
processing labs owned by cartel bosses. The changes in FARC over the last decade have been
significant. As the revenue from the drug trade has expanded, so to has the power and influence of
FARC. Of particular concern is FARC's territorial control. FARC controls an estimated 40 percent
of Colombia. Included in that territory is their "safe haven." Prior to peace talks in 1999 with the
Colombian government, FARC negotiated for control of an immense swath of Colombian territory
under the pretext of it being a demilitarized zone. The zone covers an area of approximately 42,000
square kilometers, roughly the size of Switzerland. The Colombian government have seen this as
a concession to FARC to push them to the negotiating table. FARC, however, has used the safe
haven to continue the cultivation of narcotics and staging grounds for assaults on the Colombian
military. Cuba had been a major contributor to the FARC cause, providing funding, training, and

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refuge for FARC soldiers.21 With the end of the Cold War came a significant reduction in Cuban
support. The successful campaigns to eradicate coca crops from Bolivia and Peru pushed the trade
to areas controlled by FARC in southern Colombia. Experts estimate that over half of FARC's
funding comes from drug cultivation and trafficking, with the rest coming from kidnapping,
extortion, and other criminal activities. A Time Magazine article recently estimated that FARC
makes $700 million annually from the drug trade. An alarming trend has been the increasing
cooperation between FARC and elements of the Russian mafia. The Colombian drug cartels had
cultivated a relationship with the Russian mafia since the early 1990s. But with the decline of the
drug cartels and the rise of guerilla armies in the drug trafficking business, came new relationships.
Never one to shy away from opportunities with new customers, the Russian mafia increased their
business deals with FARC. The Russians built a arms pipeline to Colombia, bringing in thousands
of weapons, and tons of other supplies to help FARC fight their war against the Colombian
government. The weapons range from assault rifles and RPGs to military helicopters and,
according to media reports, shoulder-launched surface-toair missiles. Evidence has surfaced
regarding an arms-for-drugs deal between Russian organized crime groups and FARC. Russian
cargo planes loaded with small arms, anti-aircraft missiles, and ammunition would take off from
airstrips in Russia and Ukraine and fly to Colombia. The weapons and ammunition were unloaded
and sold to FARC rebels. In return the planes were loaded with up to 40,000 kilograms of cocaine
and shipped back to Russia, where the Russian mafia would distribute the drugs for profit. At the
time the story broke, the operation had been on-going for two years. FARC is also extending its
cooperation to the borders of the United States. The recent arrest of a FARC figure in Mexico have
convinced Mexican and American authorities of a Colombian link to the Arellano-Felix-run
Tijuana cartel. The State Department believes that FARC supplied cocaine to the Tijuana cartel in
return for cash and weapons. A defeat of FARC would not spell an end to drug trafficking out of
South America. History has shown that as soon as one area has successfully been eradicated of
drug crops, new areas of cultivation spring up across borders. If FARC is defeated, groups like
ELN and paramilitary groups are likely to fill the vacuum. This "balloon effect" may further spread
the drug trade and the associated violence into states bordering Colombia, such as Venezuela,
Ecuador, Bolivia and Brazil.

21
Huggins, Laura E., ed. Drug War Deadlock: The Policy Battle Continues. Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press,
2005, pg. 54

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Afghanistan
Despite publicly announced efforts by the Taliban to combat drug cultivation and trafficking,
Afghanistan continues to be the largest producer of opium in the world. And production of the
crop is growing. According to the Intelligence Community's Counter-Narcotics and Crime Center,
opium cultivation grew from 41,720 hectares in 1998, to 51,500 in 1999, and 64,510 in 2000, an
increase of over 54 percent in two years. In some districts, as much as 60 percent of the land is
used to grow poppies.22 The Poppy cultivation is expanding territorially in Afghanistan as well,
expanding into provinces not previously used for poppy cultivation. Afghanistan became the
world's leading producer of opium in 1998, and now produces more than three times as much as
Myanmar, the previous leader. This, despite Afghanistan having only 58 percent of Myanmar's
area of cultivation. The Taliban gets funding from taxing all aspects of the drug trade. Opium
harvests are taxed at around 12 percent. Then the heroin manufacturing labs are taxed at $70 per
kilogram of heroin. In the final stage, the Taliban gives transporters a permit for $250 per kilo of
heroin to carry for presentation to Taliban checkpoints throughout the country. The Observatoire
Geopolitique des Drouges estimates that this adds up to $75 million per year in taxes for the
Taliban.

North Korea
Unlike Latin America or Europe, where organized crime attempts to penetrate the state, North
Korea is penetrating organized crime. With the economy in shambles, the government of North
Korea has turned to drug trafficking and organized crime for funding. A number of indicators
suggest that North Korea is involved in the methamphetamine, opium, and heroin trafficking. Not
only do the North Koreans cooperate with organized crime groups, but members of the armed
forces, the diplomatic corps, and the intelligence service actually engage in trafficking of narcotics.
Western intelligence agencies have confirmed the presence of large-scale opium production
facilities in North Korea. But the North Koreans are not limited to drug production facilities. There

22
United Nations, “Afghanistan Opium Survey: Summary Findings.” http://www.unodc.org/unodc/drugs/afghan-
opium-survey.html.

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is also evidence of printing plants used to produce high-quality counterfeit currency. And Japan
grows increasingly nervous as members of its local Korean population with ties to the North
become involved more deeply in this dirty, underground trade.

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 CONCLUSION

Drug trafficking and socio-economic crimes shares a very complex relationship. Drug trafficking
encompass lot of acts which affect society in a negative manner. It intersects the sphere of socio-
economic crimes Crime can be drug-related (persons who ingest drugs and commit crimes because
of effect the drug) as well as drug-defined (offences in which an individual produce, manufacture,
transport and sell drugs). It is now evident that drug abusers are more likely to commit crime rather
than non-drug abusers. Terrorists group in order to generate money, commits offences like drug
trafficking and human trafficking and with the generated money, they purchase weapons. Drug
trafficking severely impacts the society. Drug abuse and trafficking can be a major reason for
family breakdown. Health is also severely affected by drug abuse. Various drug create negative
impact on health and sometimes drug overdose can lead to death also. Afghanistan and Colombia
represent the best examples of the new threat caused by the convergence of drugs and terrorism.
Afghanistan is a haven for Islamic insurgent guerillas and terrorists. In Colombia, the
destabilization of a country is a major concern. Colombia is responsible for two-thirds of the
world's production of coca. Afghanistan generates 75 percent of the worlds opiates. And the trend
lines for both are going up. Afghanistan and Colombia command the market share of the opiate
and cocaine production in the world. They are the blue chips of the narcotics industry. Drug
trafficking is increasing day by day and with this, crime rates is increasing. Proper measures are
not taken in order to control them. Bribes are paid to police officers for the purpose of allowing
various groups to trade drugs. Drugs are smuggled from one country to another. This leads to
transfer of black money from one country to another. It severely affects the economy of the
country. In order to control it, proper laws should be adopted by the government. Proper
punishment should be given to the drug traffickers so that it will serve as an example and there
will be fear of getting caught among drug traffickers. The lines between organized crime, drug
trafficking, and terrorism are quickly becoming blurred.

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 Bibliography

Primary Sources
Reports
 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report, Available at
http://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr2015/WDR15_Chapter_1.pdf

Secondary Sources
Books
 Trevor Bennett & Kathy Holloway, Drug-International Crime Connections, Cambridge
University Press Publications, 2007
 Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan, and Robert Reiner, The Oxford Handbook of Criminology,
Oxford University Press Publications, United Kingdom, 2012

Articles
 David E. Brown, “The Challenge of Drug Trafficking to Democratic Governance and
Human Security in West Africa,” Letort Papers (Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army War
College Press, 2013), Available at - http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/wp-
content/uploads/2013/05/pub1151.pdf.

 Fabre, Guilhem and Michel Schiray, “Globalisation, Drugs and Criminalisation: Final
Research Paper on Brazil, China, India and Mexico,” UNESCO, 2002, Part 1: Drug
Trafficking and the State, p. 2., Available at - ,
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001276/127644e.pdf.

 Tappan, P. (1947). Who is the criminal?, American Sociological Review, 12, 96–112

 Anchalee Singhanetra-Renard, "Socio-economic and political impact of production, trade

and use of narcotic drugs in Thailand", draft study prepared for UNRISD and the United
Nations University (1993), p. 87.

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  Frank Cillufo. “The threat posed by convergence of Organised Crime, Drug trafficking
and Terrorism.”, presented before Centre for Strategic and International studies,
Washington D.C.

Websites
 https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/statistics/data.html
 National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Alcohol, Drugs and Crime, Available
at - https://ncadd.org/about-addiction/alcohol-drugs-and-crime

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