Quote:
Originally Posted by msgsing
A lot of Asian countries like Indonesia impose the death penalty against drug smugglers. China for instance has had mass executions of smugglers. These countries never seem to really put a dent in the use of drugs in their respective countries.
The people who are behind the manufacture and transportation of drugs seem for the most part to elude capture and punishment. It's almost always the mules who get the bullet to the back of the head.
I suspect there is a terrific amount of corruption in most of these countries and the government officials are paid off by the drug cartels. Meanwhile some low level smugglers are publicly paraded in front of the local press and led off to their deaths to create the false image that there is a genuine war against illegal drugs.
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China has long imposed death on convicted drug smugglers, even big-time dealers (and for many other crimes) and yet, drug use has increased substantially in the last 20 years as China's economy has grown exponentially.
Other countries like Thailand, Indonesia, etc. have also seen no decrease in drug use or cases of smuggling. But they are poor countries, especially when compared to China.
Generally speaking, drug use in a society increases with improved economic conditions---in China (like in the US) the majority of end-users of the drugs like cocaine, hashish, weed, even heroin tend to be middle to upper middle class.
With great amounts of new-found prosperity there, it is not at all surprising drug use has also increased as more and more people have the disposable income to buy these drugs.
As for drug 'mules' or couriers, they have a strong tendency to be young, poor and not very well educated. Many come from rural areas and are unfamiliar with international laws, the drug themselves and the underworld in general. They are recruited for these reasons, among others.
To them a $10,000 USD payday is a substantial sum: many barely make that much in a year in their regular lives, if employed. So, while that might be virtual pennies to the cartels and other big-time players of drug syndicates, it is a very handsome sum for the mules that take the risks of transporting the drugs. Many mules are not even fully aware of the actual risks involved, whether they be legal consequences, danger to their safety and health risks (like swallowing 'pellets' filled with cocaine--if one ruptures before it is passed, they could well die by cocaine poising as the drug is usually in a near-pure state when being transported internationally). The guys who recruit these mules prefer they don't know all the risks and if they are caught, then so be it...they have plenty more that make it. Some are even used as decoys to distract customs while a much larger load goes thru undetected. That decoy then ends up spending hard time in prison, or worse.
So, the big guys shield themselves from the vast majority of the every-day risk--the end users also have comparably little risk as well when compared to the mules and couriers who transport the 'goods'--they run enormous risks of many kinds--and the risk of being caught is significant, especially for those who fit the 'profile'.
In many countries, the US included, Customs, Immigration and Passport agencies have 'profiles' they look for in identifying possible mules and drug couriers. The general traits are male gender, young (often about 18-26), little to average education, poor to middle class or unemployed at the moment, has little if any previous international travel experience and short visits to their destination(s).
(Why would someone working as a cook at a fast-food joint in rural Alabama suddenly be going to Indonesia? Where they have no family, no ties, has never traveled, is having someone else pay for the ticket, is only going for 3 days--). That is a typical mule case. Though many times less obvious people are used, such as middle aged women, women with small children, elderly persons who have traveled, etc...
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