Drug Geography: Heroin Trafficking in The United States

Heroin Trafficking in The United States
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Heroin Trafficking in The United States
The phrase, War on Drugs, is one that has been used in quite a number of conversations and one that also elicits some very sharp debates, with reference to its effectiveness. The United States, is one of the largest drug markets, ranging from prescription drugs to meth (Hamilton, 2016). Drug abuse has been on the rise in the last several years, leading to legalization of some of the drugs to better control the quality and the element of safety for the population (Marcus, 2016). Drug abuse is one of the addictions that quite a majority in the United States have been fighting. Even with the recovery programs in place and the habilitation centers, this is still a very serious problem. Other than the fact that, the problem is associated with high dependency levels among the addicts, there is also a direct link to crimes. There is also the issue of the financial burden on the nation along with social and cultural implications. The increase in availability of drugs in the United States prompts research into understanding the main distribution channels (U.S. Department of Justice, 2016). This will elaborate on the reasons as to why there are still drugs on the streets and where they come from despite the war on drugs that has been mounted by the government for a long time.
Figure 1. (Kelley, 2012)
As indicated in the figure 1. above, there are more deaths in Chihuahua than anywhere else, related to drugs. This further supports the theory of crime and drugs association. One of the drugs that has been on the rise is heroin and as of the year 2014, there were more than 900,000 users in the United States. More than 500,000 from this number were from the age of 12 years and above. According to the Center for Disease Control, the number has increased with more than 300,000 users over the last couple of years and the figure is rising fast. The increase in the number of heroin addicts in the United States, has been fueled by increase in production and an elaborate trafficking processes (U.S. Department of Justice, 2016). This is also attributed to the growing use in opiate pain killers such as Vicodin and the fact that, there has been a rapid increase in the availability of heroin and at a cheaper price as an alternative to over the counter medication. When referring to the heroin networks, there are close ties to the production and distribution lines that are closely connected to Mexico. According to the report by Kristin Finklea, Heroin Trafficking in the United States, much of the heroin that is available in the United States can be traced to the Mexican transnational criminal organizations (Finklea, 2016). These are the key producers of heroin in the region. Much of the heroin that is found in the American market can thus be attributed to south America. However, there are also ties that link some of the supply lines to Southwest Asia. In light of the Mexican distribution networks, the Mexican drug lords have established and cemented strong ties with outlaw motorcycle gangs, prison and street gangs to facilitate the retail end of the distribution chain. However, the ties have grown stronger and some of the American gangs have also mastered the wholesale trade (Finklea, 2016).
Figure 2. (Woody, 2015)
From figure 2. It is important to note the way that the drugs come in from southern America and the Mexico on their way to the United States (Woody, 2015). There are those that are produced in Mexico as well (Kelley, 2012). Much of the heroin that ends up on the American streets, comes in through the southwest border. To better understand the increase in the heroin trade on the streets of United States, between the year 2010 and 2015, the cache of heroin that has been confiscated by the Drug Enforcement Agents has grown from 1016 to 2524 kilograms. This is also a trend that is mirrored across the streets seizures along with arrests related to the same. In 2015 alone, the number of arrests that were made in relation to heroin were at an estimated 6353, this is an increase that indicates more than 50% jump compared to the year before.
Figure 3. (Woody, 2015)
As shown in the figure above, th...