NCJ Number
142263
Date Published
Unknown
Length
23 pages
Annotation
The problems involved in the international detection of narcotics and explosives revolve around many factors: the information factor, available markets, the international dimension, the evaluation of the drug problem, the technological dimension, modes of transportation, societal evolution, and future trends.
Abstract
While the exchange of information is vital for international law enforcement purposes, it can also be costly, manipulative, and unreliable. For example, when authorities seize large shipments of illegal drugs, they are sometimes being fooled by decoys. While North America and Europe have long provided ready markets for illicit drugs, regional tastes for heroin, opiates, and cocaine ensure that drug transport routes are numerous and difficult to anticipate. The growing global nature of drug trafficking and substance abuse means that drug law enforcement is an international priority; as a result, the UN has created the International Narcotics Control Board to promote governments' implementation and compliance with various drug control treaties. Most regional evaluations of the drug problem are based on the number of drug seizures; this author notes that such extrapolations may not be accurate. The technological dimension is crucial in effecting drug interdiction strategies, which are, in turn, directed against the various modes of transportation used by drug traffickers: smuggling by sea, on land, and by air. Despite society's evolution to a world that tolerates abuses of every kind, drug law enforcement must push ahead, with the assistance of ground-breaking technologies.