Britain, Jamaica and their drug problems (Part 2 of 2)

Lloyd Williams
Senior Associate Editor

Following is the second and final part of a report on the drug problems faced by Jamaica and the United Kingdom as articulated by Bob Ainsworth, the British Under-Secretary of State at the Home Office, with responsibility for Anti-Drugs Co-ordination and Serious Crimes, and Dr. Peter Phillips, Jamaica's Minister of National Security. The first part appeared in The Sunday Gleaner of May 12, 2002.  

MR. AINSWORTH said the question of Jamaicans requiring visas before they enter the United Kingdom was under review.

Dr. Phillips expressed concern about the issue. "We, certainly the Government of Jamaica, while fully respectful of the British Government's sovereign rights in this regard, are of the view that the imposition of visas would not address the critical issues which arise and we say that fully respectful of the British Government's rights in this regard. We think that what is important for us to do is to ensure that we combat the real enemy which is the druggists and the drug dealers, many of whom try to break through loopholes and to do so without in any way imposing constraints on the broad majority of innocent people who want to have access to their families, who want to have access to the means of trading relations and the likely tourism opportunities that may in some ways be curtailed in a new visa regime.

"We are going to try to assure to the full extent possible, the British public and the British government of our good faith in this regard by doing, continuing to do and even strengthening, all our efforts to combat the illegal trade in narcotics and to enforce such controls through collaboration that will stop the bad people from going through and allow the ordinary citizens to proceed about their business."

Mr. Ainsworth: So, as you can see, the argument for the alternatives is being presented to us strongly and we are listening to what Minister Phillips is saying and we are evaluating the problems that we have and the potential solutions that we have to it.

Dr Phillips was asked what aspect of the bilateral programme he was pleased with.

COURIER PROBLEM

Dr. Phillips: We are particularly happy with the counter-drug operations which are under way and we are looking particularly now to work together with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to deal with the courier problem on a joint basis. We are looking further for some kind of effort which is still in its early stages that would share information between the two countries. It would allow us to identify those who are involved in the drug trade and to exercise greater control over our own borders in this regard.

"The area in which we want to move and in which we are having discussions is how do we strengthen the collaboration between the police forces operating in the respective countries against the same set of targets and this is something that we want to explore as rapidly as we can."

Mr. Ainsworth: On the courier side, we know that it's (Jamaica) not the source of the overwhelming supply of cocaine into the UK. But I don't think that you can do a simple evaluation that's based on kilo weight and say where your priorities ought to be or where your necessities ought to be. And I am not suggesting that the courier problem is the biggest problem, but the other issues that are associated with couriers ought to be given some weight as well as the amount of cocaine that they bring into the UK.

"I think that that particular form of entry is certainly closely associated with the crack cocaine manufacture that goes on in the UK and it's constantly controlled by some violent criminal gangs that are causing difficulties both in Kingston town and in London and in Bristol and in other cities in the UK as well. And as Minister Phillips said, there is a social side to this as well".

VICTIMS

"Some of the people who are being used, wind up as much victims as the people who they are supplying. If they don't wind up banged up in Kingston jail, some of them wind up dead. And they wind up dead because these parcels explode within them and they overdose in a way. And there are some dreadful things done to them by the people who are effectively controlling them. There is no care for human life in this regard so it's a particularly brutal part of the trade that is preying on some of the more uneducated or vulnerable people in both of our countries. And that's why we need to give it that little bit more emphasis than just the powder weight would indicate that we should. But we've got some plans, they are already underway to try to toughen up, to make certain that this method of entry becomes very very unattractive indeed."

Dr. Phillips: And that's one other area that I want to mention and that is the whole question of money laundering. The fact of the matter is that probably the most effective way of hurting the druggists is to take away their profits. We believe that there is a lot that we can learn from the British experience in this regard and there is a lot that we can learn together in this regard. We are dealing with a very adept enemies who have tremendous resources at their disposal and who learn to change their tact, to bolt through whatever loopholes exist. We want to get some benefit of the British experience so we can plug any loopholes in our own legislation and make it more effective in targeting the property that has been built up through illicit activities on the part of the druggists and so this is an area in which we want to build our co-operation."

STEADY SUPPLY

INCSR, published by the U.S. State Department, reports that steady supplies of heroin and cocaine enter the UK, with some 90 per cent of the heroin ­ about 30 tons a year ­ coming from South-West Asia, and cocaine, estimated at from 25 to 40 tons a year coming chiefly from Colombia.

According to INCSR, supplies of both (powder) cocaine and crack cocaine reach the UK market in a variety of ways. "Around 75 per cent of cocaine is thought to be carried across the Channel from consignments shipped from Colombia to mainland Europe and then brought to the UK concealed in trucks or private cars, or by human couriers or 'mules'.

"Traffickers based in the UK are the organisers. The Caribbean, chiefly Jamaica, is a major transhipment point from Colombia with import to the UK being achieved by air freight and by increasing numbers of couriers, normally women, attempting to conceal internally (i.e. through swallowing in protective bags) up to 0.5 kilogram at a time."

Couriers are reportedly paid between 2,000 and 5,000 pounds for each Jamaica-to-UK cocaine run. The business has grown so sophisticated that as The Gleaner reported several months ago, at least one physician has been retained by one of the drug smuggling syndicates to give advice to cocaine swallowers before they leave on their delivery trips.

Whereas powder cocaine and crack cocaine have been used in the United States for several years, they are relatively new to Britain and it's the young people who are experimenting and getting hooked on the drug, not regarding it as being nearly as addictive as heroin. For the most part they see it as a recreational drug.

Cocaine which use to sell for 200 pounds a gram in the UK in 1990 can now be had for 40 pounds a gram. As the use of cocaine increases, so have the number of cocaine-related deaths, a fact the British health authorities regard as
worrying.

The British Government is tackling the drug problem head on, addressing both supply and demand reduction. The British Government developed a 10-year drug strategy, launched in 1998, that emphasises the importance of all sectors of the society working together to combat drugs. It recognises that drug
problems do not occur in isolation but are often linked to all other social problems.

A MENACE

Recently British Home Secretary David Blunkett stated: "Drugs are a menace. It's not just the harm that they cause to drug users and their families. It's the effect they have on the whole community. People trying to maintain their drug habits commit huge amounts of crime. It is time for an honest and commonsense approach focusing effectively on drugs that cause most harm such as cocaine and heroin."

The British Government is backing up its talk with action, planning to increase from 700 million pounds in 2000/1 to one billion pounds in 2003/4, its spending on the drug problem. According to Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, some drug gangs use the threat of extreme violence to protect their lucrative cargo. And it's not only detection which threatens their shipments but theft by criminal rivals. HMCE states: "A kilo of heroin costs less than 1,000 pounds in Pakistan but on the British streets it is worth more than 75 times as much.

"This potential profit has drawn major organised crime syndicates to drug smuggling ­ the Mafia and the Jamaican Yardies are known to be involved."

As Raphael F. Perl, the American international narcotics policy specialist said in a recent interview with The Gleaner, drug trafficking is a supply and demand business ­ market economy. With the events of September 11 and the heightened security that has resulted, drug trafficking is going to continue with the cocaine or heroin or whatever the drug, being smuggled in smaller quantities. So increasingly, it will be swallowed or stuffed into a body cavity, hidden on the person, packed into luggage or other belongings, stashed in a car, boat or plane or hidden in seemingly legitimate freight.

It is estimated that every kilogram of cocaine seized prevents 5,000 deals on the streets of Britain.

©Copyright 2000 Gleaner Company Ltd. | Disclaimer | Letters to the Editor | Suggestions