Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Drug Smugglers on Drug Smuggling examines the organizational structures of drug smuggling from Colombia to the US. Career drug smugglers describe a series of often disconnected networks that enable smugglers to best organize their business in a way that will minimize the risks of apprhension and maximize profits.
Synopsis
Drug Smugglers on Drug Smuggling features interviews with 34 convicted drug smugglers -- most of them once major operators -- detailing exactly how drugs are smuggled into the U.S. from Latin America. These sources provide tangible evidence of the risks, rewards, and organization of international drug smuggling.
Quoting frequently from their interviews, Decker and Chapman explain how individuals are recruited into smuggling, why they stay in it, and how their roles change over time. They describe the specific strategies their interviewees employed to bring drugs into the country and how they previously escaped apprehension. Over-all, the authors find that drug smuggling is organized in a series of networks which are usually unconnected.
This extraordinarily informative book will be of particular interest to law enforcement officials and policymakers, but it will appeal to anyone who wants to know how the drug business actually works.
About the Author
Scott H. Decker is Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University. He is the author of Life in the Gang: Family, Friends and Violence.
Margaret Townsend Chapman is an Associate at Abt Associates Inc.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Motivation for the Study
Understanding Drug Smuggling
Impact of Drug Interdiction and Eradication Efforts
Summary
Chapter 2. The Organization of the Study
Study Design
Interview Sample
Summary
Chapter 3. Drug Smuggling Organizations
Movement Away from Cartels
Structure and Movement of Drugs
Suppliers
Brokers in Colombia
Offices
Transporters
Brokers in the U.S.
Retailers
Summary
Chapter 4. Movement of Drugs
Transportation Routes
Source to Midpoint
Midpoint to United States
United States
Methods of Transport
Private Vessel
Commercial Vessel
Private Plane
Commercial Plane
Vehicle
Summary
Chapter 5. Roles, Recruitment into, and Remaining Involved in the Drug Smuggling Trade
Drug Smuggling Roles
Offloaders
Boat Captain
Airplane Pilot
Organizer
U.S. Brokers and Intermediaries
Recruitment into Drug Smuggling
Personal Ties
Organizational Ties
Government Recruitment
Motivation for Drug Smuggling
Leaving Drug Smuggling
Summary
Chapter 6. Balancing Risk and Reward
Minimizing Risks
Avoiding Detection
Changes in Smuggling Activities in Response to Risk
Getting Caught
Assessing Risk
Perceptions of U.S. Criminal Justice System
Role of Arrest
Role of Conviction
Role of Imprisonment
Role of Getting Caught
Role of Conspiracy
“If you Were in Charge”
Summary
Chapter 7. Making Sense of Drug Smuggling: Conclusions and Summary
Organizational Structure
Managing Risk
Potential Responses by Law Enforcement
References
Appendix1.
Instrumentation Study Design
Appendix 2.
Study Design