Drug Trafficking and its Effects in Columbia

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INTRODUCTION
The illegal drug industry is a global black market consisting of the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of those substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws.
In spite of the lack of precise information, the drugs market can be considered the largest illegal market in existence nowadays, in terms of sales but also of people involved in it.
The production, trafficking and drug abuse has reached an enormous magnitude worldwide and, as it is a global phenomenon, the United Nations established in 1997 in Vienna the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which is the combination of the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP) and the Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Division.
The …show more content…

And the consequences of this illegal drug trade are countless for this developing country: as a matter of fact, the illegal drug production and trafficking have marked the country’s history. In no other country has the drug trafficking had such impressive social, political and economic repercussions (effects).
Furthermore, it’s important to focus the attention on this country not only because is the world’s principal cocaine producer- with a percentage from 70 up to 80 -, but also because, due to his geographical position, Colombia had and has a fundamental role in the drug market.
Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to study the drug trafficking in Colombia, the reason why this black market had such a role in this country; but also to analyze the effects –social, political and economic- had by the illegal drug trade in Colombia, without forgetting finally the policies adopted to fight this illegal market.

Chapter 1. The development of the Illegal Drugs Industry 1.1 An historical …show more content…

So, Colombia started playing a central role in this industry by producing and distributing the marijuana: by the end of the decade Colombia produced more than 70 percent of the marijuana.
Concerning the production and trade of cocaine, the Colombian cocaine market followed in the footsteps of the marijuana traffickers. Indeed, by the end of 1960s, a small cocaine smuggling network sprang up. At the beginning a small quantity of coca plantations were located in the Cordillera Occidental and in the San Jorge Valley in the department of Cauca. Smuggling was carried out largely by sea and by air through the Gulf of Mexico or The Pacific. In the 1970s, as the demand for cocaine increased rapidly in the United States, the limited coca supply produced in Colombia was no more sufficient in order to afford the demand, thus the supply increased through the import of cocaine from Bolivia and Peru, refined in laboratories in Colombia and then smuggled in the United

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