Highlights
- Poly-drug trafficking occurred in Australia in almost every year from 1999 to 2012.
- This type of drug trafficking was associated with larger quantities of drugs and more assets seized.
- Poly-drug traffickers were more involved in other forms of criminal activity.
- The findings suggest poly-drug trafficking may make traffickers more resilient and profitable.
- Future studies are needed to replicate the analysis in other countries.
Background
International
drug law enforcement agencies have identified an apparent rise in high level
drug traffickers choosing to deal in multiple different drugs. It is
hypothesised that this may be a “deliberate modus operandi” and
that the formation of “portfolios of trades” may make such traffickers more
profitable, harmful and resilient to changes in drug supply and policing. In
this paper we provide the first exploration of the extent, nature and harms of
poly-drug trafficking at Australian borders.
Methods
Two
different methods were used. First, we used Australian Federal Police (AFP)
data on all commercial level seizures at the Australian border from 1999 to
2012 to identify the proportion of seizures that were poly-drug and trends over
time. Second, we used unit-record data on a sub-set of 20 drug trafficking
cases and linked-cases (defined as the original drug trafficking case and all
other criminal cases that were connected via common offenders and/or suspects)
to compare the profiles of poly-drug and mono-drug traffickers, including: the
total weight and type of drug seized, the value of assets seized, and the level
of involvement in other crime (such as money laundering and corruption).
Results
Between
5% and 35% of commercial importations at the Australian border involved
poly-drug trafficking. Poly-drug trafficking occurred in almost every year of
analysis (1999 to 2012), but it increased only slightly over time. Compared to
mono-drug traffickers poly-drug traffickers were characterised by: larger
quantities of drugs seized, larger networks, longer criminal histories and more
involvement in other types of serious crime.
Conclusion
Some
fears about poly-drug traffickers may have been overstated particularly about
the inherent escalation of this form of trafficking. Nevertheless, this
suggests poly-drug traffickers are likely to pose added risks to governments
and law enforcement than mono-drug traffickers. They may necessitate different
types of policy responses.
Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/Nn6lO2
By:
Affiliations
Drug Policy Modelling Program, National Drug and Alcohol
Research Centre, UNSW Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
Correspondence
Corresponding author. National Drug and Alcohol Research
Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia, 2052. Tel.: +61
2 9385 0132; fax: +61 2 9385 0222.
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv insight
No comments:
Post a Comment