Drug Trafficking Routes
The global drug smuggling trade is a complex and constantly evolving phenomenon, with new routes emerging all the time.
The global drug smuggling trade is a complex and constantly evolving phenomenon, with new routes emerging all the time. However, by understanding the key patterns and routes used by smugglers, law enforcement agencies can work to disrupt and prevent the flow of drugs into their respective countries.
There are some patterns that have emerged that can be used to identify key smuggling routes. Latin America remains a major source of drugs, with most of the production taking place in countries such as Colombia, Peru, and Bolivia. Drugs are then transported by various means, including by sea, to other regions of the world.
"The most common route goes from Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, or the Dominican Republic to Florida".
A popular method for moving drugs over water involves the use of small boats or ‘Pangas’ (small fishing vessels) because they are difficult to detect by conventional radar. These boats are often operated by small-scale smugglers and can carry a range of drugs, including cocaine, marijuana and occasionally heroin.
Small boat routes are regularly used within the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Coast. The most common route goes from Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica, or the Dominican Republic to Florida with the second most popular routes being between Mexico and Texas and Mexico and California.
Reports indicate that maritime drug smuggling within the Dominican Republic underwent a serious uptick within 2022, the port of Caucedo by far the single biggest single point of cocaine distribution through the Dominican Republic and further transhipment to the United States.
The country’s antinarcotics agency (Dirección Nacional de Control de Drogas - DNCD) is understood to have seized almost 17 tons of cocaine by June 2022. A total of 7.6 tons is understood to have arrived in April 2022 alone, when authorities made five separate seizures in the Port of Caucedo.
In the largest haul, just under 1.2 tons of cocaine were confiscated from a container on its way to Rotterdam. Statistics indicate that seizures in April 2022 were higher than the total of all seizures made in 2018 and 2019 indicating a significant rise in incidents.
Other key maritime drug smuggling routes include the Indian Ocean, where drugs are smuggled from Africa to other parts of the world.
