Annotated Bibliography: How Narcotics Trafficking Organizations Operate as Businesses

• NCJ Number: 203832
• Author(s): John N. Gibbs
• Date Published: September 2002
• Length: 11 pages
• Corporate Author: Library of Congress
• Sale Source: Library of Congress
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Bibliography
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Downloaded January 23, 2004.

Annotation

This annotated bibliography identifies and briefly describes the contents of 19 articles, dissertations, monographs, reports, and studies by academic and research institutes that either examine narcotics trafficking organizations as businesses or focus on the functioning of the illegal-drug trade from an economic perspective.

Abstract

The bibliography is the result of an exhaustive search of both domestic and European sources. The intent in focusing on the illegal-drug trade as a business is to identify vulnerabilities within the business models of these organizations that may suggest new or more effective means and methods of interdiction. The limited number of publications on the selected topic is due to the low number of studies on the subject, and many of the works that purport to deal with the subject of drug trafficking as an economic enterprise are superficial in their analysis, with some offering little more than the application of simple economic theory to the illegal-drug trade. Many of the works included in this bibliography do not examine narcotics trafficking organizations as businesses as the primary emphasis of the work. They examine particular aspects of the industry, such as the price of narcotics or the effectiveness of specific methods of interdiction. Drug traffickers' use of the opportunities presented by globalization and new technology as a new means of increasing business and reducing risks is discussed in a few of the studies, but these subjects have not been examined in the depth likely to assist in the development of effective methods for combating these new mechanisms for trafficking and eluding law enforcement interventions. The research for this bibliography also found a lack of research on the marketing practices and techniques used by drug trafficking organizations. Such practices include attempts by traffickers and dealers to make various drugs attractive to targeted demographic groups by varying appearance, packaging, pricing, contents, and purity.