NCJ Number
199607
Date Published
February 2003
Length
33 pages
Annotation
This document analyzes drug trafficking in the Caribbean.
Abstract
The first section of the document introduces the international illegal drug market to the reader and discusses the implications of recent trends on the Caribbean region. Two major implications of the international drug trafficking market on the Caribbean have been the reduction in the exports of both cannabis and cocaine. The increasing international preference for hashish oil and the seemingly unlimited availability of it from Morocco has drastically reduced the exports from the Caribbean. Similarly, the United States’ drastic decline in cocaine use has reduced the amount of this export from a high of over 500MT (metric tons) in the early 1980’s to a low of 160MT in 2001. Next is a discussion of drug prices in the Caribbean. The prices of illicit drugs is used by law enforcement officers to monitor developments in drug trafficking because drug prices are thought to reflect the supply and demand. Drug prices in the Caribbean did not change appreciably from 2000 to 2001. The following section analyzes drug enforcement activities involving drug seizures of marijuana and cocaine in the Caribbean region. Large seizures of cocaine in the Caribbean reveal that this region is a high intensity cocaine trafficking area, however, seizures of cocaine at the Central American-Mexican corridor are almost double that of the Caribbean. In the next section, the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, is discussed in terms of its effects on international drug trafficking. After a brief 1-month cessation of drug trafficking into the United States directly following the terrorist attacks, dealers’ prices in Miami, which is the most accurate measure of Caribbean drug imports, fell rapidly during the next few months, indicating a resurgence in drug trafficking from this region. The final section discusses the international effort to combat the regional drug trafficking problem. Cooperation among law enforcement personnel in different countries has become necessary to countering the import and export of illicit drugs. Four Annexes contain tables on cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and ecstasy seizures in the Caribbean from 1994 through 2001. 38 Endnotes