NCJ Number
138671
Date Published
1992
Length
270 pages
Annotation
Interviews with drug traffickers, police informers, convicted offenders, and police personnel form the basis of this analysis of drug trafficking and drug law enforcement in Great Britain.
Abstract
The findings revealed that, contrary to popular views and media coverage, domestic drug markets are not organized as highly structured hierarchies ruled from the top down. Unlike the situation in many countries that are drug sources, Great Britain lacks drug cartels or "drug barons." In addition, corruption of law enforcement personnel has been relatively minor, restricted to middle-level scandals involving small groups of police officers. No systematic corruption or institutionalization of criminality exists in British law enforcement. Thus, British drug markets exhibit all the features of "disorganized crime" and involve many forms of small- and medium-scale drug trafficking. Drug law enforcement is characterized by efforts at the national/regional, county, and city levels, with an increasing focus on the improvement of drug intelligence and interagency cooperation. Notes, appended report from the Association of Chief Police Officers, subject index, name index, and 212 references