It affects almost all of our member countries, undermining political and economic stability, ruining the lives of individuals and damaging communities. The end-users and addicts are often the victims of a powerful and manipulative business. Drug trafficking is often associated with other forms of crime, such as money laundering or corruption. Trafficking routes can also be used by criminal networks to transport other illicit products.
As criminals devise ever-more creative ways of disguising illegal drugs for transport, law enforcement faces challenges in detecting such concealed substances.
In addition, new synthetic drugs are produced with regularity, so police need to always be aware of new trends and products on the illicit market. We provide operational support, analysis and training to help national police to tackle widescale drug trafficking. Operation Lionfish targets drug trafficking along air, land and maritime routes. In the United States, the Right to Financial Privacy Act of provides many of the procedural protections for financial records guaranteed more broadly by the Fourth Amendment.
The Electronic Communications Privacy Act of essentially prohibits the monitoring of wire transfers while in transit or in storage without a court order, warrant, or administrative subpoena.
In a significant number of countries, bank secrecy laws hinder obtaining comprehensive information about financial transactions by prohibiting banking officials from releasing customer information to persons outside the financial institution, or simply by prohibiting access by foreign law enforcement agencies on the grounds of national sovereignty. Although various international standards have been written to guide governments in adopting anti-money-laundering policies, not all jurisdictions have implemented regulations.
Those countries that have not implemented these standards should be encouraged to do so to reduce money laundering activity. In the U. There also needs to be more vigorous prosecution of banks and banking officials who knowingly assist in and profit from money-laundering operations. Maxine Waters, introduced amendments to the Financial Services Act that would:. The laundering of drug proceeds can be reduced through the implementation and strengthening of anti-money-laundering standards, but these regulations can only have a limited effect on curtailing money laundering.
Such a system would also pose a serious threat to privacy and constitutional protections. Rather than simply focusing on implementing more laws to fight money laundering and drug trafficking, greater emphasis should be placed on addressing the fundamental causes of the problem—namely, the demand for drugs and a lack of economic opportunities in both developing countries and U. This would, in effect, reduce the proceeds to drug traffickers. Although drug trafficking and money laundering will be reduced if demand for illicit drugs is reduced in consumer countries and if alternative forms of development are implemented in source and transit countries, drug consumption will continue to exist.
The artificially high profits of supplying drug consumers serve to impede alternative forms of development. The illicit drug trade funds powerful criminal organizations, resulting in widespread corruption, violence, and an undermining of the rule of law. This, in turn, impedes the prosecution of these organizations, weakens the judicial system, and prevents the effective implementation of anti-money-laundering controls in the banking system.
Weak legal structures and social instability also thwart legal commercial development. Ultimately, the UN Conventions on Illicit Drugs , , must be revised to allow for signatory parties to experiment in regulating the distribution and sale of certain illicit drugs if the problems created by prohibition are to be addressed. Unfortunately, recent actions by the UN make it clear that such experiments will not be considered.
There are a variety of regulation schemes that could be implemented to control access to drugs while removing the profits from criminal enterprises. Ideally, the aim should be to minimize the harm that drugs cause to users and society at large, to shrink the size of the black market, and to obviate the need to launder illicit funds.
Key Points Drug traffickers seek to transform the monetary proceeds from their criminal activity into revenue with an apparently legal source. Last reviewed October Criminal Law Contents. Proving Drug Trafficking The crime of drug trafficking is similar to drug possession , since it requires that the perpetrator knowingly possesses an illegal controlled substance. Criminal Law.
Aggravating and Mitigating Factors in Criminal Sentencing. Restitution for Crime Victims. Receiving Immunity for Testimony in a Criminal Case. Classification of Criminal Offenses.
Drug Crimes. Drug Manufacturing. Drug Possession. Drug Trafficking. Criminal Attempt, Conspiracy, and Aiding and Abetting. Federal Crimes, Cybercrimes, and Juvenile Crimes. Traffic Offenses. Violent Crimes. White Collar Crimes.
0コメント