NCJ Number
107185
Journal
Security Management Volume: 31 Issue: 9 Dated: (September 1987) Pages: 69-74
Date Published
1987
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The use of illegal drug trafficking as a weapon against the United States by Soviet-influenced terrorists began when the newly unified People's Republic of China began shipping heroin to the West in 1949 and supplying drugs to U.S. troops during the Korean conflict.
Abstract
Impressed by the success of this strategy, the Soviet Union and other Warsaw Pact nations undertook drug smuggling, including to National Atlantic Treaty Organization troops and U.S. troops in Vietnam, during the 1960's and 1970's. Similarly, the Sandanista Government has adopted trafficking as a means to weaken U.S. society and abet communist insurgencies in Latin America; Columbian drug traffickers use their vast wealth to train and arm communist guerillas and foment revolution. Narcoterrorism also is a threat in Pakistan, Burma, Malaysia, Thailand, and Turkey; terrorist groups in Syria and Northern Ireland also have been connected with drug trafficking. Countermeasures should aim at curtailing both supply and demand, public education, diplomatic sanctions, and providing support to other countries targeted by narcoterrorists.