Drugs arrive at seaports

The dense jungles of Thailand,Laos and Myanmar have the notorious fame of being known as the Golden Triangle of illicit drug production.The US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) estimates that more then eight million containers arrive at seaports while small crafts with illicit drug cargoes call at US coastal towns across the United States of America. Illicit drugs may be concealed in canned foods, rice, in the hull or fuel tanks .The DEA does carry out X rays of small crafts to detect drugs.

Drug Profits

Myanmar opened up after the year 2014 and foreign investment started pouring in thereby affording people alternate means of dignified  livelihoods apart from opium farming. Unfortunately , after the civilian leadership was deposed in the year 2021 warlords with connections to organized crime syndicates compelled Myanmar to return to opium cultivation as a revenue earner. Casinos in the Mekong delta ,and globally as well , with accompanying luxury hotels are a front for money laundering of illicit drug proceeds which are ploughed back into the regional banking system.  The role of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)  in combating money laundering of proceeds of illicit drugs is not visible .The lucrative drug trade includes smuggled cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana.

Credit The New York Times

Methamphetamine is famous for its aphrodisiac qualities and party and play culture.Ketamines are hallucinogens.The UN has reported that more then a billion synthetic pills  of methamphetamine and ketamine were seized in East and  South East Asia. Heroin , once used for medical purposes,  is now widely used as a recreational drug and has the ugly distinction of being highly addictive .

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Cocaine is in the category of stimulant drugs and preferred mode of use is snorting giving rise to a fleeting feeling of intense excitement, euphoria or hallucinations.

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The DEA plays the pivotal and lead role and at times deploys U.S. Coast Guard boats outfitted with high-performance outboard engines for endurance and high sea pursuit. The DEA has an extensive state of the art laboratory analysis system,forensic experts for court testimony and legal resources to successfully prosecute criminals in investigations and trials.

Credit China Military Online

COVID-19 and Drug Routes

The pandemic and resultant clampdown on border movements made drug transportation through land routes difficult compelling drug cartels to revert to Western Maritime Routes  and the coastline of Myanmar , Andaman Sea , Strait of Malacca were revived by drug syndicates to access the Southeast Asian market. Vessels ranging from luxury yachts, modified pump boats and Iranian dhows are the vessels of choice. Boat launched drones are also being used by drug smugglers. The civilian drug enforcement agencies have to take the lead and put their act together and to launch concerted maritime initiatives to consistently patrol the sea routes fortified by aerial surveillance through drones ,satellites and digital data feeds .

Coordination of Civilian Drug Enforcement Agencies with UNODC

Credit Christian Science Monitor

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) endorses civilian authorities to encourage and propagate maritime awareness amongst coastal and fishing communities , local media ,shipping lines so as to convince them to share suspicious activity observed in the waters with drug enforcement enforcement agencies. Civilian DEA’s have the advantage that they are acceptable and can blend into the local communities and gather human intelligence and drug smuggling related leads .INTERPOL, International Maritime Organization and UNODC collaborate in projects , funded by the EU, to build capacity of civilian drug enforcement agencies of countries like Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen which are affected by drug smuggling . The objective of capacity building is to promote adequate security and safety standards for maritime, port and  land-based law enforcement authorities to ensure successful prosecution of criminals in the courts. The war between drug syndicates ,with vast resources and  backing of dictatorial and authoritarian regimes , and civilian drug enforcement wages on and the theater has shifted to the high seas and coastlines.