Illicit Drugs Destroy Society
Highlighting that illicit trafficking is part of web crime that threatens a country’s security, the United States of America today expressed strong commitment to counter the global flow of illicit drugs.
On the occasion of International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Washington DC, US Secretary John Kerry said it is time to connect the dots between the global flow of illicit drugs, violence that destroys communities and even nations the world over, and 21st century challenges.
He said the connected network has caused a range of bad things, from the existence of human trafficking, to elephant poaching, to transnational crime, and also corruption.
Illicit Trafficking Does Not Exist In A Vacuum
According to Secretary Kerry, drugs are the center for common international infrastructure for transnational crime.
He said dirty drug money and narcotics and corruption and violence flow together. It was true in the past and it is no less true today.
“We live in the age of narco-trafficking 2.0 that funds an underworld of evil.” – Secretary Kerry
US Committed To Counter Flow Of Illicit Drugs
With this deadly reality of illicit drugs that destroys society, Secretary Kerry said the State Department is on the front lines promoting citizen security in a vastly more complicated world where change is coming faster than ever before.
The US is working with its partners to counter sophisticated supply chains that produce, distribute, and market illicit drugs and fuel transnational criminal organizations.
In addition, the US said it is committed to sharing its experience and expertise with other countries wrestling with these challenges.
“Today of all days, we need to plot a national strategy to counter this global scourge.” – Secretary Kerry
Drug Trafficking A Lucrative Business For Criminals
According to UNODC, drug trafficking is increasingly intertwined with other forms of trafficking in the region.
UNODC also found that drug trafficking continues to be the most lucrative line of business for criminals.
The United States continues to support the West Africa Coastal Initiative through UNODC in order to address border and corruption issues in an area of the world where an estimated $1 billion in cocaine is trafficked annually – a number more than twice the GDP of many West African nations.
Commonly, criminals conduct kidnap-for-ransom operations and have substantially supported terrorist networks in the Sahel. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has demonstrated its ability to carry out criminal activities and attacks against soft targets across significant distances.
In addition, illicit arms trafficking is another serious aspect of transnational crime in West Africa and the Sahel.
In October 2011, the United States completed a project in Guinea-Bissau that destroyed over 80 metric tons of obsolete military ordnance at the request of the host nation.
Organized crime – especially drug trafficking – accounted for a quarter of deaths caused by firearms in the Americas, compared to only 5 per cent of homicides in Asia and Europe.
