Blog #8 Italian Police Arrested Camorra Mafia Boss

Fighting back is int he rise for the Italian goverment. Luigi Esposito an influential mafia boss and the country’s 30th most wanted man was captured in a luxury villa in Posillipo a northern city of Naples. It is believed that he is one of the heads of the Nuvoletta clan of the camorra who are known to operate in the Naples region. It is believed that Esposito is an expert’s money-launderer that obtains money, who funneled illicit cash from drug trafficking into tourism and other illicit businesses making around $17 billion. Camorra mafia has 3,600 members including 15 of the 30 most wanted men. This mafia focuses more in drugs, prostitution and various businesses. Italy’s law enforcement has being changing and they are becoming tougher on crime. Since the prime minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi there has been15 arrests of the Esposito mafia and who’s members are in the 30 most wanted men. Italian officials are very happy about the way the current prime minister is doing things because he is doing things to capture mafia members.

The public are starting to feel safe and give the law enforcement tips because they want to feel more secure and the prime minister is working hard to accomplish that. The current government is telling the public that they will be building new prisons or use old prisons on the islands around the country, this gives the public a sense of safety because the government is fighting crime and looking for places to put the mafia when they arrest them.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/11/2009118162018415270.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHUyOf-7g1g

Blog #7 The Favorite Sea Lanes for Drug Trafficking

Drug traffickers have discovered a better route to traffic drugs from one country to another. The sea lanes of South Atlantic is the main route to traffic narcotics from Latin America to West and North Africa. According to intelligence officials groups such as al Qaeda are involved in this massive movement. Moreover, the Middle Eastern intelligence states that there is massive growing of Islamic militaries operating in North and West Africa and the drug lords in Latin America. This movement is growing faster, and the groups who are involved in this are becoming stronger.
Many drug lords of different countries such as Colombians are now shifting their drug transportation. The Colombians went from sending cocaine to the Caribbean to Europe, because of the better opportunity to make more money. They are becoming more intelligent because in order to move from one country to another Colombians have to transship the drug through the South Atlantic from Venezuela and to the Africa, through Spain and into Europe According to the spokesman of the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The FARC guerrilla movement (which they are known to kill, kidnap and harm people), which they seek to destabilize the government of Colombia is involved and it is known to the authorities that they are linked to the Islamists in North Africa.

A greater concern about the new way of transporting drugs is the groups involved in it; groups such as Al Qaeda in the Meghreb (AQIM), and it is believed that they operate in Moroco, Algeria and Tunisia. The North Africa officials stated that AQIM is amassing large sums of money from the drug trade to use it in financing attacks to cause fear among tourists and keep them away from there. The Middle east intelligence official stated that CIA tries to monitos the trafficking but cannot stop it in a country where Islamists and drug dealers because they bribe the officials to keep them quiet.

www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/nov/17/islamic-militants-boosting-role-in-d

Blog #6 Brazil Fights against Drug “Mules”

The Brazilian government is working very hard to stop the drug “mules”. Mules is the term used to refer to people who try to sneak drugs across borders. Currently this is a huge issue in the country of Brazil, Sao Paulo is the international airport and is fastest growing people trying to smuggle cocaine from Latin America to Europe via Africa. According to the Governor of Sao Paulo Brazil; Andre Franco Montoro stated that the international airport has become the preferred exit point for mules. The reason is because it has direct flights nearly every country in the North and South America. According to Brazilian authorities, they stated that they seed 2.1 tons of cocaine last year, and it is estimated that this year that number will increase. As the figures shows the record is about to break this year. Just in the first three weeks of June 2009, there has been 180k of cocaine confiscated from mules traveling to different countries. The way Brazilian authorities are trying to detect and apprehend the mules in the international airport is by monitoring suspicious people and once they get in the check in area to check deeply for any drugs they might be carrying.
Some countries such as Bolivia, Peru and Colombia drug traffickers use Brazil’s international airport as their transit country to various others countries. Drug traffickers are mostly interested in using women mules; just this year there was been about 400 to 450 foreign women arrested for carrying drugs. Women are more prone to accept in being a mule for the following reasons. Many women are poor and are in need of money to feed their families because many of them are single parents. Becoming mules is an easy way to obtain money, this is the reason women mules are in the rise.

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/07/200973171714167731.html
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/07/200973173331208733.html

Blog #5 Colombia’s Most Wanted Drug Lord “Don Mario” was Captured

Daniel Rendon or better known as “Don Mario” was the most wanted drug lord in the country of Colombia. It is known that Rendon commanded a private army with hundreds of soldiers who have shipped about 100 tons of cocaine to the United States. The president of Colombia Alvaro Uribe described Rendon as a 43 year old man, and “one of the most feared drug traffickers in the world” is believed to have committed about 3,000 murders in the last 18 months in which a lot of them have happened in territory battles among other drug lords. It is also known that Rendon was working closely with the Mexican traffickers to have better routs of smuggling drugs in other countries specially United States. Rendon was found “like a dog under a palm tree” according to President Uribe. When Rendon was captured he was living like a dog hiding, in the jungle. It took many months of patient planning and intelligence work in this high risk operation. The reason was because Rendon was known to be a high risk person, who killed without compassion, who did not care what he did in order to obtain more control or to protect himself. Prior to this fantastic operation, there was an operation that failed because Rendon had hired people to kill any cop getting close to him, and that person would he a reward of 1,000 dollars for every police officer. This time Rendon was alone and he was easy target.

Colombia’s way of combating organized and the way their operations are being handle is great. The captured of one of the most fearful drug lords in this country is a huge deal because this is showing other drug lords that soon they will be captured. On the other hand, drugs is a business and like any other business if the main boss dies or something happens to him/her another one will substitute. In this case since Rendon was captured soon there will be another person replacing him who will control Rendons territory. But the Colombian government is hoping to capture many drug lords to decrease the drug trafficking coming out Colombia.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/04/15/don-mario-colombians-most%1f_n_187247.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZnsud9B4bw

Blog #4 The U.S Attacks drug smuggling

The United States is strongly fighting back against drug trafficking that comes from the Mexican border. The border between United States and Mexico has being the major area for drug smuggling. The U.S security on the Mexican border has tightened so significantly since the 9/11 terror attacks that the drug smugglers are nor using a greater variety of techniques to enter the United States. Some [drug traffickers] are increasing the number of shipment and the amount of drugs…in hope of getting some of the product into the Mexican-border states (1). The U.S/Mexican border has become stricter with the security border after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, yet drug traffickers have become very intelligent in the way they smuggle drugs into the U.S. Now the United States has to be even more intelligent and fight harder to decrease the drug smuggling from Mexico. Recently the United States filed charges against 44 people, including 10 Mexican nationals for smuggling cocaine that is considered to be worth millions of dollars (2). There are some drug traffickers who accomplish the goal of smuggling the drugs even with the high secure borders. The U.S officials arrested one of the most Mexican wanted man “Joaquin Guzman” as well as several high ranked drug cartel leaders.

Guzman is one of the biggest barons in Mexico. About 13,000 people have died in a drugs war between state authorities and the cartels in the past 3 years (2). The number of people who have died due to the war on drugs in Mexico is very fearful especially when the violence comes from one drug cartel. Guzman leads state of Sinaloa Mexico cartel, which is generally regarded as being the group most responsible for drugs related violence across Mexico (2). The U.S authorities are making the best they can to decrease violence in regards of smuggling drugs across the Mexican border. Michele Leonhard, the acting head of the U.SDrug Enforcement Agency (DEA) [stated] that the U.S is offering a reward of 5 million dollars for information leading to the arrests of the Mexican drug cartel leaders (2). It is believed that 90% of the cocaine that comes into the U.S is smuggled via Mexico; the DEA says (2). The war against drugs has being and will continue to be an issue in the U.S. Fighting back and doing whatever it takes to win this war will take time, it will take a lot effort and sadly many innocent lives.

1) Anonymous. (2003). U.S border security encourages ‘dry runs’. Narcotics enforcement and prevention digest. Vol. 9, lss 5; pg.4
2) US indicts scores on drugs charges. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2009/08/2009820203820623857.html
3) Drug Smugglers are endlessly creative at border. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsLRJBha7k