NCJ Number
165272
Date Published
1986
Length
90 pages
Annotation
This paper takes current drug laws and policies as a starting point and designs a strategy to reduce the illicit drug supply consistent with the aims of current drug policy; attention is given to the relationship between the strategy to reduce supply that is necessary to achieve the goals of current drug policy and policy to counter organized crime.
Abstract
Current drug policy makes it difficult for drug-trafficking organizations to execute large-scale transactions in the risky environment of an illicit industry. The criminal organizations that can overcome these difficulties are likely to be large, enduring organizations with a well-established reputation for violence. Thus, these organizations, in all likelihood international organizations, should become the primary targets of a supply reduction/organized crime policy. In the framework of such an enforcement policy, domestic enforcement programs would be viewed as "patrol operations" that can produce intelligence and informants to be used in mounting attacks on major trafficking organizations. Moreover, the focus of the international program should shift from concerns about crop control to the support of foreign enforcement efforts and the negotiation of treaties that would permit a more convenient prosecution of drug traffickers whose crimes cross national boundaries. Finally, major investments should be made in the capabilities of intelligence agencies and an orientation toward sustained conspiracy cases among investigators and prosecutors. 71 footnotes