NCJ Number
225372
Date Published
January 2009
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Data on cocaine flow toward the United States in 2007 covers departure points, smuggling modes and methods, cocaine seizures and disruptions, the source zone, and the U.S. arrival zone.
Abstract
Between 545 and 707 metric tons of cocaine departed South America toward the United States in 2007, similar to the 2006 estimate. The eastern Pacific and Western Caribbean routes to Mexico and Central America remained the primary channels for cocaine movement from South America to the United States. The diversification of routes and methods was the most notable trend in 2007. Some variations in transportation included the use of low-profile and self-propelled semisubmerisble vessels, the shipment of uncharacteristically large cocaine loads in commercial maritime containers, and the use of alternative routes in response to interdiction pressure. In 2007, documented worldwide cocaine interdicted (seized and scuttled) was 483 metric tons, 9 metric tons less than the revised total for 2006. The overall decrease was due to a sharp decline in seizures recorded in the non-U.S. transit and arrival zones. U.S. transit-zone seizures in 2007 were 6 metric tons higher than in 2006; Mexico and Costa Rica led transit zone countries in the amount seized, with Mexico seizing nearly five times the amount of cocaine seized in 2006. U.S. arrival zone seizures decreased most notably across the U.S. Southwest border. The most significant development in the source zone in 2007 was Venezuela’s increasing role as the primary transit country for the movement of increasing amounts of Colombian cocaine by noncommercial aircraft. Cocaine seizures in the U.S. arrival zone decreased from 35 metric tons in 2006 to a 5-year low of about 27 metric tons in 2007. 7 figures