There Is No One Common Definition For Organized Crime,

Drug Cartels are large highly sophisticated organizations composed of multiple Drug Trafficking Organizations-DTOs and cells with specific assignments such as drug transportation or security. The Cartel is the highest on the drug ring chart and these organizations are highly defined with control structures that produce, transport, and distribute large quantities of illicit drugs (US Drug Enforcement Agency, 2004). The criminal groups operating in the U.S. controls drugs in the ranges of small to moderately size groups. The top three levels of the drug trafficking chart show how organized the criminals are and how much is at stake. The trafficking ring has affected so many lives, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). These trafficked drugs affect people on every socio-economic background, region, and people with any level education. Early use of illicit drugs leads to unhealthy behavior and it is also associated with unwanted pregnancy and premature sexual activity which results in exposure to STDs and or HIV. The U.S. suffers an annual loss of about 70 billion dollars due to

According to the U.S. Department of Justice National Drug Intelligence Center, drug cartels can be define as “…large, highly sophisticated organizations composed of multiple [Drug Trafficking Organizations] DTOs and cells with specific assignments such as drug transportation, security/enforcement, or money laundering” (2010). Also, it is mention within this national drug threat assessment that was done by the U.S. Department of Justice, that the “greatest drug trafficking threat” to the United States is “Mexico” (2010). With this been said one can understand that the roots majority of the criminal groups that operate domestically within the U.S. can be traced back to Mexico. So, in order to understand how this criminal organizations form

Drug trafficking is something that is hard for law enforcement to keep up with. The federal government has developed agencies in order to combat this problem. “The primary agencies involved in drug interdiction include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, U.S. Coast Guard, and the U.S. Military” (Levinthal, C.F., 2012, p. 120). The DEA is responsible for enforcing illicit drugs laws and regulations. And bringing to justice any person or group that has any part in engineering, delivery or growing of an illicit drug with the intent to sale. The DEA are sometimes work undercover and are frequently out of the country conducting investigations with foreign leadership. The U.S. Custom and Border Protection

and their sentence. A criminal enterprise is “a group of individuals with an identified hierarchy, or comparable structure, engaged in significant criminal

This paper explains the consequences that drug traffickers face in today’s criminal justice system; those consequences being classed as controlled substances, federal trafficking sentences, offender and offense characteristics, and the effects of illegal drug trade on society. When the federal government labels a substance as controlled, this means the possession and distribution of these substances are governed by law. These laws are formulated in accordance with 21 U.S. Code § 811 – 814 - Authority to Control; Standards and Schedules. Both federal and state laws come into play on drug trafficking cases. There are a great deal of federal drug law in addition to each state having its own drug laws. Policymakers generally pass these laws to discourage drug cartels but it is often the street dealers that are prosecuted. “There were 80,035 cases reported the United States Sentencing Commission in fiscal year 2013. Of these cases 22,215 involved drug trafficking (U.S. Sentencing Commission 2014).” As seen in recent years, the division of government administrations and departments over how the ‘War on Drugs’ should be conducted, has divided society all because of drug trafficking. Although the trafficking of drugs degrades local, state, and federal economies, drug trafficking also reduces health for those that use and are in close contact with individuals both physically and psychologically. The penalties for drug trafficking are categorized and divided into many areas but not

Organize crime is a conspiratorial activity involving the coordination of numerous people in the planning and execution of illegal acts or in the pursuit of a legitimate objective by unlawful means, for example, threatening a legitimate business to get stake in it. However, organize crime involves continuous commitment by primary members, although individuals with specialized skills may be brought in as needed. Therefore, organize crime is usually structured along hierarchical lines is a chieftain supported by close advisers, lower subordinates, and so on.

According the Article 16 of the constitution of the Mexico United State, organized crime is defined as an “organization made up of 3 or more persons with the purpose of committing crimes in a permanent or repeated manner in the terms of the law on the matter” (Siegel, 150). The U.S Department of Justice, defines a drug cartel as “large, highly sophisticated organizations composed of multiple DTOs[ drug trafficking organizations] and cells with specific assignments such as drug transportation, security/enforcement, or money laundering” (Drug Trafficking Organizations). Gil Kerlikowske, director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), gave a statement in which he challenges the appropriateness of the use of the term cartel, “It is now very clear to me [that] we should not call them drug cartels, because they are involved in so many other things [...]. They are multifaceted companies [...]. If we continue to call them drug cartels, even though that still remains a large part of their profits, then we will continue to think we have to deal with them through some kind of drug legislation, regulation, and so on” (Siegel, 152). For our purpose, we will use the term drug trafficking organizations as an overall umbrella to discuss all organized crime in Mexico;

While it should be logical that an organization with the reach and profits that a drug cartel has would have to have great organization or distribution/production routes, it is not something that I have ever heard talked about before. Most of the time when I think of drug gangs or cartels, I think of the (somewhat fake or cheesy) henchmen you see in movies, or the small-time, local gang members that you hear about on the news. The highest person I had heard about was El Chapo, and even that was focused more on his escape than his background or why he was in jail in the first place. I also did not know that the U.S. has created such a huge demand for drugs, and I feel like that is something that is not something that I would not have been able to “stumble” across, so to speak. It completely surprised me that over 50% of the world’s drug demand has come from the United

There are at least two competing definitions: one that focuses on particular groups of people, and one that focuses on particular types of crime. Both definitions have some validity, and neither is sufficient to completely describe the global reality. Understanding the way that real-life organized crime situations fit these two definitions makes a big difference in the ways we might go about solving these problems. When most people say “organized crime”, it is often a shorthand way of referring to groups of people, usually “the mafia” and similar groups. Understood in this way, organized criminal activity is simply whatever these organized crime groups do. The people are consistent across time, although what they do may change: today maybe extortion, tomorrow maybe heroin trafficking, or check kiting, or procurement fraud, or all of the above. The emphasis is on the group, not the nature of the crime. This is an important distinction, because it implies a number of assumptions about the way that organized crime works. Law enforcement agencies use this definition almost as a matter of course, because the criminal justice system is designed to deal with specific offences committed by specific people. Police arrest suspects and seize their property, prosecutors secure convictions one-by-one, and only individual people can be sent to prison. When actors in such a system plan proactively, they are limited by the tools at hand, and this affects the way they conceptualize the

Organized crime is described as, "the unlawful activity of members of a highly organized association engaged in supplying illegal goods, and services, including gambling, prostitution, loan-sharking, narcotics, and racketeering" (Schmalleger, 2012 P. 318). According to a 1976 federal task force on organized crime, racketeering, vice operations, theft/fence rings, gangs, and terrorism are considered the five types of activity that qualify as organized crime. Law enforcement agencies, had a few specialized weapons for the fight against organized crime. The first federal legislation aimed specifically at curtailing activities. Hobbs Act, made it a violation of the federal law to engage in any criminal behavior that would interfere with commerce,

Drug trafficking has played a huge role on many people's lives. It is believed to be stimulated by their environments, peers, upbringings and psychological factors.

The first thing is to look at the definition of organized crime. “Definition of organized crime: a group of professional criminals who work together as part of a powerful and secret organization” (Webster, M, 2017). Professionals not the first word you think of when crime is used. It wasn’t a 9 to 5 job, but they have an organization like a business. From bosses down to the common workers. “Boss, Consigliere (Counselor), Underboss, Caporegime (Lieutenant), Caporegime (Lieutenant), Caporegime (Lieutenant), Caporegime (Lieutenant), Caporegime (Lieutenant), Soldiers (Members grouped under Lieutenants)” (Schmalleger, pg. 352). The text book defines it differently. “Organized crime specifically refers to unlawful activities of the members of a highly organized, disciplined association engaged in supplying illegal goods and services, including prostitution, gambling, loan-sharking, narcotics, and labor racketeering” (Schmalleger, pg. 352). Both point out that crime, or criminal activity is involved.

Drug lords pays well to his helpers, for some because of the wealth they could have they change form a teacher to a trafficker. And drug traffickers has their own benefits in the ‘society’ they are the law in Mexico. The age of recruitment has been getting younger as teenagers are an easier bait for glamorous living dressed with cars and girls. The drug trade provides incomes for many but bring the city to a legitimate economic down pour. For decades Mexico was controlled by the Partido Revolucino Institucional or PRI, the relationship between the drug traders and PRI begins and solidified after the World War II. The PRI ‘government’ viewed that the illegal drug trade as a source of profits and power. Hence it moulded a durable political, police and military infrastructure to allow drug lords

Drug trafficking has been an ongoing epidemic in the United States, as well us other countries for an unimaginable amount of time. Illegal drugs varying from heroin and cocaine are primarily the main drugs that get smuggled in the United States from South America. Even marijuana and methamphetamine have been popular in the drug smuggling “industry”. These gangs go to a variety of different extents to get the job done. Drug trafficking increases the violence levels These drugs have been smuggled through the Southwest Border since the 1970s and are attempting to expand the distribution of those drugs into eastern U.S. markets. The countries of drug production have been seen as the worst affected by prohibition. In many countries worldwide, the illegal drug trafficking can be directly linked to high violent crimes. This is especially true in third world countries, but has still been seen as an issue for many developed countries all over the world. Drug trafficking increases the risk of violence and crime due rise of addiction along with an increase of death. It also effects the along with correctional system effects.to its high costs, Nearly all of the heroin produced in Mexico is destined for distribution in the United States. Organized crime groups operating from Mexico produce, smuggle, and distribute various illegal drugs after trafficking them across the US border. Trafficking groups that operate from Mexico tend to avoid penalties by their stealthy methods of smuggling

murder as routine part of lives and running businesses. This violence takes lives of many, including traffickers, police and regular citizens and contributes to chaos in communities. Although such brutality is not in the best interest of the drug cartels, there are many reasons why it has become an inevitable part of the drug trade. Skyrocketing demand for illegal drugs and development of new smuggling tactics turned small-scale cocaine operations into a billion dollar enterprise. It is a highly competitive business and as with any other illicit enterprise, there are no official rules to manage the disputes and disagreements therefore cartel leaders turn to violence and they are brutal towards anyone who stands between them and their profits. (Fichtelberg, 2008, p.214)