We’ll all have our views on the necessity (or not) of the “War on Drugs” and whether prohibition works (and the alternatives) – more on that in
Before that, it’s worth putting the impact of drugs in Wales (and on the people involved in supplying them) in context.
Where do drugs come from?
You can put recreational drug origins into three broad categories: locally cultivated, synthetic and exotic.
Locally cultivated drugs include plants and fungi that can be grown with support (or grown naturally) in Wales. Certain types of psilocybin (magic mushrooms) grow naturally from spring to autumn and are quite common on moorland.
Cannabis and salvia can be grown here, often on an industrial scale in illegal hydroponic “factories” located in abandoned buildings. The seeds aren’t illegal, but cultivation is illegal. Cannabis can be further purified/concentrated into resins, while certain plants have much higher concentrations of active ingredients (i.e. “skunk”).
Synthetic drugs – like ecstasy, LSD and amphetamines – can be made from widely available industrial chemicals but require a degree-level knowledge of organic chemistry and specialist equipment. Despite this, a raw/natural ingredient is often involved which has to be processed. Ecstasy, for example, uses oil extracted from sassafras bark.
“Exotic drugs” and drug precursors can’t be produced in Wales from start to finish. Obvious examples would include cocaine (derived from coca leaves) and opiates like heroin (opium poppies, which aren’t cultivated in Europe).
Some drug crops aren’t grown exclusively for the drug trade as they may have other legitimate uses – like cosmetics, teas and drinks. Raw coca leaves are still chewed as a legal stimulant in parts of South America.
Cocaine is often manufactured in makeshift jungle “bucket chemistry” laboratories using ingredients like petrol, battery acid and caustic soda. Heroin is usually manufactured at the source of the opium poppies in a similar way too – predominantly Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran (aka “The Golden Crescent”) and Southeast Asia (aka. “The Golden Triangle”).
Who controls the global illegal drug trade and how much is it worth?
For comparison, the global video game industry is worth around $200billion and the global film industry around $110-140billion.
The global (import/export) trade in drugs is almost entirely run by organised criminal gangs and cartels based in Central & South America and Asia – as well as some paramilitary and terrorist groups.
The local (wholesale) trade will more likely be handled by larger organised criminal groups and gangs, who will sell on to smaller street-level gangs and individual dealers.
How do drugs get here?
There are very clear “trade routes” not unlike other historic examples such as silk and spices.
Cocaine from South America and West Africa gets into North America via Mexico and the Caribbean; and to Europe across the Atlantic or via North Africa. Opiates make their way through Central Asia and Eastern Europe, or across the Pacific to Mexico.
As for precisely how they’re moved, there is a mix of either “straightforward” or “creative” means.
Straightforward would include smuggling drugs hidden in vehicles or cargo – potentially involving collusion with corrupt border officials – or using tunnels or “drug mules” (people carrying drugs on their person or inside them).
More creative means might include fake cosmetic implants, makeshift submarines, hiding drugs in dead bodies and hollowed-out fruit or even physically launching drugs across borders using cannons.
The internet – particularly the so-called “dark web” – has also become a lucrative marketplace for drugs, with some of the more infamous dark web sites, like The Silk Road, being seized and closed down by law enforcement agencies.
When there’s money to be made, the market will find a way – even when that market is blacker than black.
So the next time someone wealthy, powerful and – most importantly – middle class decides to dabble in a cheeky bit of Colombian marching powder in a wine bar (or Senedd toilet), it’s worth remembering precisely who’s getting it to them: some of the most unpleasant people imaginable.
How has the drug trade affected communities caught up in it?
We hear a lot about how the drug trade affects the communities where drugs are sold (because we live in them), but we don’t hear or see that much about how it affects the areas where drugs (or the raw materials to make them) are produced.
In many areas, the “War on Drugs” is very much a shooting war.
It’s impossible to put a single figure of the number of people killed as part of the global “War on Drugs”, with active local “theatres” across South America, Mexico, Bangladesh and the Philippines. The Mexican drug war – between government agencies and cartels – is estimated to have resulted in up to 400,000 deaths alone.
Drug crops have become an important source of income for farmers, often otherwise living at a subsistence level.
In 202313, Colombia produced just over 1,700 tonnes of coca leaves, with it being estimated that one hectare of coca leaves is worth up to $7,000. In many cases, the price of the crop is so lucrative it’s pretty much an economic necessity to produce it.
So not only are the people producing it putting themselves at risk of being killed in a raid or arrested but they’ll also be exposed to some nasty chemicals when manufacturing drugs.
Growing monocultures of cash crops is also a serious environmental problem due to deforestation (often happening in ecologically important rainforest areas), the subsequent loss of habitats, the use of pesticides and herbicides (sometimes to destroy the drug crop) and water depletion.
12. Channing May, Global Financial Integrity (March 2017). “Transnational Crime & The Developing World” (p9). Available at: https://secureservercdn.net/45.40.149.159/34n.8bd.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Transnational_Crime-final.pdf
13. Santiago Torrado, El Pais (12th September 2023). “Colombia sets new record for coca crops and cocaine production”. Available at: https://english.elpais.com/international/2023-09-12/colombia-sets-new-records-for-coca-crops-and-cocaine-production.html
