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Illegal drug trade

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These lollipops, above, were found to contain heroin when inspected by the DEA.

In jurisdictions where certain drugs are illegal, they are generally supplied by criminal drug dealers who are stereotypically associated with organized criminals, though this is seldom the case in reality. The motivations for drug trade vary greatly depending on the specific drug:

Natural, or "soft" drugs

Here, "natural" refers to so-called "drugs" that can be harvested and consumed in a potent form with little-to-no processing.

Cannabis trade

Cannabis trade is typically motivated by the principles of philanthropy, although simple recreational drug use plays an enormous role. Because modest profits can be made by selling Cannabis, its trade may also be partially motivated by poverty.

Growing & harvesting

To be written

Wholesaling

The wholesale market for cannibus exists on a variety of levels. Typically a "wholesale" would consist of a purchase of more than quater of a pound. Due to the different strains and different degrees of potency, the wholesale of marijuana can have quite varying markets. For example, it is not unheard for the Mexican "schwag" to be purchased by in multi-ton quantities. Of course, these type of purchases are done by large poly-drug organizations that work with other national and internaional crime cartels. The importers of these drugs also tend to be very violent and import other drugs such as cocaine, derived from South America, and Herion. The Mexico-US border is usally the source for these wholesale transactions.


Higher grade marijuana tends to exist on a much more reduced scale due to the nature of the product. The "chronic" marijuana usually sells in smaller quantities due to the fact that this product is much more expensive. Where a pound of schwag can go for 500$ wholesale, a pound of high grade marijuana can fetch up to 4400$ a pound wholesale. This price reflects the value the consumer has for marijuana. High grade marijuana comes from domestic indoor and outdoor growing. Imported high grade marijuana tends also to come from Canada or in some rare instances the tropics and Mexico on a much smaller scale than the schwag from Mexico. Of course, some zealous traffickers will bring multi-ton shipments of this product as well. Many of these large traffickers are also associated with other much harder drugs, violence, and gangs. The typical indoor grower usually tends to be an otherwise law-abiding citizen who would not even consider violence or strong arm tactics in marijuana dealing.

(See "shipping" section for more details on large-scale trafficking)


However, most wholesaling can take place on lesser levels. In the majority of cases, a local grower will give Cannibus to "distributers", each getting somewhere between a quarter ounce and one pound, who then divide it up and sell it to street-sellers. Because it costs very little to grow Cannibus, and because the distributers are generally personal friends of the grower, any money made from this is almost 100% profit. Distributers can afford to distribute to sellers for as little as a dollar a gram, but typically charge half street value. The grower takes the most sizeable cut of the money, but the particulars and percentages vary depending on the individuals involved and whatever agreement they come to. It's not unheardof for the grower to keep all the profit and pay his distributers in Cannabis (although in this case the assumption often exists that the distributers are keeping a small amount of the money for themselves without the grower's direct knowledge).

These "lesser" wholesaling transactions aren't generally focused upon, though, primarily because they are "small time". Most law enforcement concern is over large-scale wholesaling and cartels.

Street selling

Selling can be somewhat profitable. For example, in the Northwestern USA (where cannabis is fairly common and therefore generally inexpensive when compared to other regions) an ounce of cannabis costs about $250. That ounce might be broken up into quarter ounces which usually sell for $80 each, eighths which might be sold for $40 each, or $20 bags which might contain 1.8 to 2.0 grams. Such a sale might yield as much as $70 in profit. Often, mainly for philanthropic reasons, a person might maintain low profits in order to facilitate wide-spread use of the plant. However, most people that use cannabis use it in their own homes or purchase from friends/cohorts and use it socially.

Those who sell primarily to make profit (as opposed to philanthropic motives) might "pad" their prices in the following ways:

  • Charging as much as $50 for an "eighth"
  • Putting only 1.0 to 1.5 grams in a "twenty bag"
  • Selling an ounce for as much as $300

These "mark-ups" generally only work on those who are inexperienced at purchasing cannabis. More "seasoned" buyers would never, for instance, pay $20 for a single gram of cannabis.

Note also that these prices are for cannabis buds, or simply, "bud". "Shake" (leaves) is usually available in much greater quantities for much lower prices, but isn't nearly as potent.

Shipping

Certain strains of Cannabis that are unique to a particular area, such as Maui-wowie, hula-bud, Thai-sticks, northern lights, yellow cab, or Alaskan thunderfuck may be shipped great distances due to popularity and demand.

There exists on the United States' west coast a Cannabis "super highway" of sorts along which most exotic strains are traded, anti-Cannabis laws are relatively relaxed or aren't as actively enforced, and large numbers of growers reside.

At the northernmost end of this "highway" is Alaska, where northern lights and Alaskan thunderfuck are produced. Further south is Brittish Columbia, home of the famous BC bud, which comes in a wide array of qualities and forms, the most desired of which is the hydrochronic, or hydroponically grown chronic. South of Brittish Columbia is Washington, which is home of the annual Hempfest, has an extremely high number of local growers, and imports massive quantities of hydrochronic from Brittish Columbia, Maui-wowie and hula-bud from Hawaii, Thai-sticks from Thailand, yellow cab from Idaho, northern lights and thunderfuck from Alaska via Brittish Columbia, and red-hair bud from southern Mexico via California and Oregon. Washington is also famous for its chemo-bud grown at the University of Washington, including the elusive (and possibly non-existant) G-13. South of Washington is California, where consumption of Cannabis is likely as high (per-capita) as in Washington, and is thus a major player in Cannabis trade. At the southernmost end is Mexico, which although known mainly for its low-quality "dirt weed" helps the trade of highly potent strains from southern Mexico and Central America into the United States.

Along this "super highway", major cities such as Vancouver, BC, Tacoma, San Fransisco, and LA offer the lowest prices for the greatest quantities of Cannabis, whilst Tacoma, San Fransisco, and LA offer the greatest variety of exotic strains. These exotic strains become increasingly rare and expensive when one moves into the smaller surrounding towns. Away from the west coast as a whole, the cost of even low-quality or "schwag" Cannabis may be double what one would pay for good-quality Cannabis in, for instance, Washington.

High-demand strains

Some greatly sought-after (and often more expensive) strains of Cannabis include Alaskan thunderfuck, BC bud, chemo-bud, G-13, hula-bud, hydrochronic, Maui-wowie, mystic creeper, northern lights, popcorn bud, purple kush, Thai-sticks, white rhino, and yellow cab.

Shroom trade

To be written

Harvesting

To be written

Distributing

To be written

Tobacco trade

The illegal trade of tobacco is motivated primarily by increasingly heavy taxation. When tobacco products such as name-brand cigarettes are traded illegally, the cost is as little as one third that of retail price due to the lack of taxes being piled on as the product is sold from manufacturer to buyer to retailer. Meanwhile, the sale of tobacco, legal or not, seems motivated almost entirely by addiction, with social/recreational motives being the cause of initial consumption.

Artificial, or "hard" drugs

Artificial drugs in the form of liquids, powders, and pills, are as a general rule far, far more addictive and damaging than natural "drugs". The trade of these hard drugs is driven mainly by the economics of greed and often by poverty, and in many cases by addiction, though there are some exceptions to this.

Here, "artificial" refers to drugs that must be processed, extracted in small amounts from enormous quantities of plant material in order to get a potent product, or simply do not occur in nature.

Acid trade

To be written

Production

To be written

Selling/distributing

To be written

Cocaine trade

Because of the extensive processing it undergoes during preperation, cocaine is generally treated as an artificial drug (all artificial subtances are derived from one or more natural sources anyway). Unprocessed cocaine, such as cocaine leaves may be bought and sold, and are thus treated as a natural "drug", but this is exceedingly rare. Therefore, powdered cocaine (its usual form) is what is being described here.

Harvesting & processing

To be written

Wholesaing

To be written

Cutting & distributing

To be written

Crack trade

To be written

Processing

To be written

Street selling

To be written

Heroin trade

To be written

Cutting & distributing

To be written

Methamphetamine trade

To be written

Manufacturing & wholesaling

To be written

Cutting & distributing

To be written

Crytal meth vs. lith

To be written

Opium trade

To be written

Because of physical dependence, the high cost of illegal addictive drugs is one of the major causes of crime. Some estimates placed the value of the global trade in illegal drugs at around four hundred billion U.S. dollars in the year 2000.

Major consumer countries include the United States and European nations, although consumption is world-wide.

As with legal commerce, the illegal drug trade is multi-layered and often multi-national, with layers of manufacturers, processors, distributors, wholesalers and retailers. Financing is also important, generally involving money laundering to hide the source of the illegal profits. All of these are made more complex by their illegality, but the normal laws of economics still apply, with the efforts of law enforcement regarded by the drug trade as an extra business cost.

The drug trade is a very fragmented industry with the most popular product, cannabis, being grown locally by many individuals with little collaboration. Similarly, drugs like LSD with very low profit margins are sold more for philanthropic reasons than for profit. The main organized drug cartels deal with cocaine, heroin, and MDMA, and it is these that are the primary focus of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration. Largely manufactured drugs also induce the foundation of satellite organizations that supply some of the needed chemical precursors. In places where alcohol is illegal, such as Saudi Arabia, it may also be the subject of illegal trading. In the United States during Prohibition, trade in alcohol was dominated by the Cosa Nostra.

Some prescription drugs are also available by illegal means, eliminating the need to manufacture and process the drugs. Prescription opiates for example, are sometimes much stronger than heroin found on the street. They are sold primarily via stolen or unscrupolous prescriptions sold by illegitimate medical practices and occasionally from Internet sale. However, it is much easier to control traffic in prescription drugs than in illegal drugs.

Legal drugs like tobacco can be the subject of smuggling and illegal trading if the taxes are high enough to make it profitable.

Because disputes cannot be resolved through legal means, participants at every level of the illegal drugs industry are liable to compete with one another through violence. Some of the largest and most violent drug trafficking organizations are known as drug cartels. The most well known recent groups were the Cali Cartel and the Medellin Cartel in Colombia and the Juarez Cartel, Tijuana Cartel and Tamaulipas Cartel in Mexico.

Manufacturing and processing

Illegal drugs can be broken down into two major classes: those extracted from plants, and those synthesized from chemical precursors. For the first class, such as marijuana and cocaine, the growing area is important, and substantial farming is needed for mass production. For the second class, such as MDMA and methamphetamine, access to chemical precursors is most important.

Major drug farming and manufacturing countries include

Synthetic illegal drugs can either be manufactured in the country of consumption, or abroad.

For the most part, the manufacturing of botanically-based drugs consists of several layers which may be isolated or conglomerated: growing and harvesting, initial botanical processing, chemical processing, and final processing.

The initial botanical processing prepares the plant for chemical processing, by cutting, drying if applicable, separating parts with a low concentration, and etc. The chemical processing extracts the drug, and the final processing sizes it, provides assurance of quality, packages it, and may convert it to another form (such as crack from cocaine).

Of course, there is a lot of transportation that goes into it, as well. The botanical extracts must be conveyed to the

Distribution and wholesaling

There are two primary means of distribution: a hierarchy and a hub-and-spoke layout. A hierarchial arrangement includes the manufacturer who uses his own men to smuggle, wholesale and store, and distribute the narcotics. A hub-and-spoke layout takes advantage of local gangs and other localized criminal organizations. The cartel is at the center, with satellite organizations that may provide certain services to the manufacturer, and then there is a plurality of distinct groups, each with its own chain.

Smuggling is typically accomplashed via small boats and yachts, air vehicles, and by gangs paid with a chunk of the merchandise.

Wholesalers routinely accept the materials from the smugglers (often more than one and of varying types), cut it, and sell it to the distribution chain or chains. For the most part, wholesalers are not individual people. It is typically an expansional endeavor by already-established rogue enterprises, especially Mafias and, rarely, gangs. The more experienced instances may remanufacture the wares to increase (or decrease, because profit comes from cutting) the purity, mixing it (a few may fabricate amalgamated, specialty products at fleeced prices), or altering the chemical composition of the material (such as freebasing cocaine). Wholesalers may also manufacture and disseminate general contraband, including non-narcotic controlled substances (like date rape drugs), paraphernalia, and any panoptic, high-demand item that they may receive.

Distribution may traverse a selectively choosen group of cartel employees who purchase from a wholesaler and utilize a prominent population of "mules," or it may encompass a heavy chain of users who are selling to finance their own use.

  • to be written -- topics include:
  • smuggling
  • →opium smuggling against laws of China in 19th century, w/regard to Howqua, Forbes family, Cabot, Perkins family, Russell and Company, Opium War
  • security problems similar to distribution of other high-value materials
  • and hence gang-on-gang crime

Retail selling

"Street" selling is the bottom of the chain and can be accomplished through purchasing from prostitutes, through cloaked retail stores or refuse houses for users in the act located in red-light districts which often also deal in paraphernalia, dealers marketing merriment at night clubs and other events, or directly from dealers who have purposefully engaged adolescents (typically). Many users sell in order to fund their own drug use. Although most are in it for the monetary outcome, some view narcotics dispensing and consumption as a means of insurrection and orchestrate it for that cacoethes. They refrain from intensive processing and abstain from umpteen 'business' practices. Although most dealers market to a changeless customer base, these mavericks may be overly advertised on hacker/phreaker/drug/etc. forums and between friends and cohorts.

See also

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