The United States, the number one consumer of drugs in the world, since 1969, has made it their goal to decrease the supply of drugs to a global zero. However, the vast supply of US drugs consumed do not originate in the US. To understand the impact of US anti-drug policy, mainly interdiction, eradication, and the targeting of DTO’s abroad, I conducted three case studies of three states with which the US has participated with in the drug war: Colombia, Honduras, and Mexico. What I found is that in each situation, each state approaches their own domestic drug war (with US support) as a COIN. However, given the unique nature of DTOs, this COIN strategy has failed, weakening the state institutions of the countries.

Drug trafficking and smuggling is an ongoing challenge for law enforcement agencies. Cocaine smuggling is a high-value pursuit for smugglers and has been attempted using a variety of concealment methods including the use of bottled liquids, canned milk, wax and suspensions in cans of beer. In particular, traffickers have used clothing impregnated with cocaine for smuggling. Handling, transportation or re-packaging of drugs of abuse and explosives will inevitably leave residual material on the clothing and other possessions of the involved persons. The nails and skin of the person may also be contaminated through the handling of these substances. This research study describes the development of Raman spectroscopic techniques for the detection of drugs of abuse and explosives on biomaterials of forensic relevance including undyed natural and synthetic fibres and dyed textile specimens, nail and skin. Confocal Raman microscopy has been developed and evaluated for the detection and identification of particulates of several drugs of abuse and explosives on different substrates. The results show that excellent spectroscopic discrimination can be achieved between single particles and substrate materials, giving a ubiquitous non-destructive approach to the analysis of pico-gram quantities of the drugs and explosives in-situ. Isolating the particle in this way corresponds with an analytical sensitivity comparable with the most sensitive analytical techniques currently available e.g. the highly sensitive, yet destructive ionization desorption mass spectrometry. With the confocal Raman approach, this work demonstrates that definitive molecular-specific information can be achieved within seconds without significant interference from the substrate. The potential for the application of this technique as a rapid preliminary, forensic screening procedure is obvious and attractive to non-specialist operators as it does not involve prior chemical pretreatment ii or detachment of the analyte from the substrate. As a result, evidential materials can be analysed without compromising their integrity for future investigation. Also, the applications of benchtop and portable Raman spectroscopy for the in-situ detection of drugs of abuse in clothing impregnated with the drugs have been demonstrated. Raman spectra were obtained from a set of undyed natural and synthetic fibres and dyed textiles impregnated with these drugs. The spectra were collected using three Raman spectrometers; one benchtop dispersive spectrometer coupled to a fibre-optic probe and two portable spectrometers. High quality spectra of the drugs could be acquired in-situ within seconds and without any sample preparation or alteration of the evidential material. A field-portable Raman spectrometer is a reliable instrument that can be used by emergency response teams to rapidly identify unknown samples. This method lends itself well to further development for the in-situ examination by law enforcement officers of items associated with users, handlers and suppliers of drugs of abuse in the forensics arena. In the last section of this study, a portable prototype Raman spectrometer ( DeltaNu Advantage 1064) equipped with 1064 nm laser excitation has been evaluated for the analysis of drugs of abuse and explosives. The feasibility of the instrument for the analysis of the samples both as neat materials and whilst contained in plastic and glass containers has been investigated. The advantages, disadvantages and the analytical potential in the forensics arena of this instrument have been discussed.

This study is designed both as a case study and a literature-based policy analysis to assist interested parties in gaining a better understanding of controversial “narco-terrorism” phenomenon. The objectives of this study are to show the existing connection between some terrorist organizations and drug trafficking to provide academic information about and explanations for terrorism and drug trafficking, to critically analyze the biases of many current narco-terrorism doctrines and to offer a comprehensive and neutral typology that elucidates all types of narco-terrorism. This thesis is presented in four parts. The first part includes an introduction to narco-terrorism and provides a historical background of drug dilemma and terrorism. A number of definitional and conceptual arguments constituting the backbone of the study are laid out in the second part of the study. Third part consists of case studies of three different insurgent groups. An analysis of the information uncovered and presented in previous chapters and a typology of narco-terrorism are provided in the last part. Thesis is concluded with recommendations in an attempt to inspire useful policies for individuals or institutions operating on the field.

This was a quantitative-descriptive study which utilized survey research techniques to examine reports of labor market participation and participation in drug trafficking by incarcerated African-American males from urban enclaves. A stratified sample of 100 was selected from among 678 incarcerated African-American males, who had been arrested for alleged drug trafficking. From the response pattern of those surveyed, Measures of Central Tendency, Measures of Variability, and Frequency Analysis were utilized for statistical procedures. This study provided a glimpse into the development and socialization of a generation of African-American males who made an initial decision to participate in irregular (illegal) economic activities. Data obtained from respondents provided information on how individuals respond to extremely powerful pressures which exist in their environment. The most prominent of these pressures is the attractiveness of possibly earning high incomes by participating in the irregular (illegal) economic activity of drug trafficking. The possibility of earning a high income from drug trafficking was juxtaposed with the reality that participation could lead to serious injury, death, arrest and incarceration. Nevertheless, many African-American males weighed the advantages and disadvantages of participation in drug trafficking activities, and elected to participate. Preliminary findings of this study identified some of the factors which may influence many young African American males to forego participation in educational systems which would provide some skills, allowing them to participate in legitimate employment enterprises. One factor of influence which was identified is the relatively low self-esteem expressed by some respondents. Another factor of influence was the perception that society has targeted African-Americans, in general, as failures. These findings have implications for social work in the areas of counseling and supporting an increasing number of young African-American women who will be forced to raise children without the presence of fathers; increases of criminal and mental health problems in certain age cohorts; development of even greater levels of anomie by African-American males; and development of a range of support services for families which have males incarcerated with long sentences.

Au vu de l’émergence au Mexique depuis la fin du XXe siècle d’une tendance littéraire appelée communément narco-littérature, nous nous proposons à travers ce parcours de mettre en lumière la diversité des outils choisis par les auteurs pour écrire la violence liée au narcotrafic. Il s’agit, dans un premier temps, d’explorer les racines historiques et sociales de ce cycle littéraire en constante effervescence et de déterminer ses caractéristiques afin de mieux comprendre son déploiement et le large succès qu’il connaît. Puis, à travers l’analyse des procédés lexicaux utilisés par les auteurs d’un corpus d’ouvrages publiés entre 2002 et 2014, nous caractérisons les différentes tendances identifiées dans l’écriture de la violence. Constatant la diffusion croissante de ces ouvrages au-delà des frontières mexicaines, l’étape finale de notre étude est consacrée à l’analyse des stratégies mises en œuvre par les traducteurs pour rendre dans une autre langue une réalité locale très particulière et bien souvent étrangère à la langue-culture du lecteur potentiel. / Given the emergence in Mexico since the end of the twentieth century of a literary trend commonly called narco-literature, we propose through this work to highlight the diversity of the tools chosen by the authors to write about violence related to drug trafficking. The first step is to explore the historical and social roots of this ever-growing literary cycle and to determine its characteristics in order to better understand its development and wide success. Then, through the analysis of lexical processes used by authors within a body of literature published between 2002 and 2014, we characterize the different trends identified in the writing of violence. Noting the increasing diffusion of these works beyond Mexico’s borders, the final step of our study is devoted to the analysis of the strategies implemented by the translators to depict in another language a local reality that is, quite often, very particular and very foreign to the language and culture of the potential reader.

No campo de estudos dos sistemas jurídicos da Infância e da adolescência, a Lei 8.069 de 13 de julho de 1990 a qual instituiu o Estatuto da criança e do Adolescente - ECA representa um importante marco legal na relação entre adolescência e criminalidade, rompendo com a perspectiva de legislações anteriores instaurando o Paradigma da Proteção Integral nas ações de responsabilização diante de condutas infracionais (Brasil, 1990). Todavia, esta transformação condicionava uma mudança estrutural no Sistema de Justiça Juvenil, que houveram se constituído sob a égide das normativas anteriores. Trata-se de estudo exploratório de processos socioeducativos aplicados a adolescentes que cometeram ato infracional na cidade de São Paulo entre os anos de 2015 e 2016. A questão das drogas e do tráfico funciona, ao mesmo tempo, como eixo aglutinador dos delitos estudados na presente tese como também contextualiza o campo macrossocial de vulnerabilidades e violações que atingem entre outras populações crianças e adolescentes residentes nas periferias das grandes cidades. Ao curso do presente estudo buscamos publicizar reflexos desta justaposição de paradigmas na justiça juvenil, discorrer sobre os hibridismo e as posições que coabitam os pólos das Doutrinas da Situação Irregular e da Proteção Integral (Gomes, 2012), a partir do olhar da Psicologia Social, das ferramentas metodológicas de análise documental e de conteúdo e do diálogo teórico com os postulados de Michel Foucault e Loic Wacquant, naquilo em que tratam da vontade de verdade nas práticas jurídicas e da criminalização da pobreza nas sociedades contemporâneas. Não obstante os avanços recentes, as políticas públicas para a infância e adolescência ainda possuem caráter Penal-Policial institucionalizado nas práticas do Estado. O desafio de efetivar e garantir a Proteção Integral, tal qual sugere a Doutrina ainda permanece / For the studies of legal systems concerning Childhood and Adolescence, Law no. 8.069 of July 13th, 1990, which set for the Statute of the Child and Teenager (ECA), represents an important legal milestone concerning the relation between adolescence and criminality, breaking the perspective of previous laws and establishing the Full Protection Paradigm in actions for damages due to offenses (Brasil, 1990). However, this transformation required a structural change in Juvenile Justice System, which has been built under the auspices of previous rules. This is an exploratory study of social and educational processes applied to teenagers who committed any offense in the city of São Paulo between 2015 and 2016. The drug and trafficking issues at the same time work as a unifying axis of the offenses herein studied and sets the macrosocial field of vulnerabilities and violations affecting, in addition to other populations, children and teenagers living in the outskirts of major cities. Throughout this study, we aimed at publicizing the reflexes of this juxtaposition of paradigms in juvenile justice, discussing the hybridity and the positions sharing the poles of both the Irregular Welfare and the Full Protection Doctrines (Gomes, 2012), from the perspective of the Social Psychology, the methodological tools for document and content analysis and the theoretical dialogue with Michel Foucaults and Loic Wacquants theories, concerning the true will in legal practices and the criminalization of poverty in contemporary societies. Notwithstanding recent advances, public policies for childhood and adolescence still have criminal aspects institutionalized in the practices of the State. The challenge of making the Full Protection effective and ensuring it as suggested by the Doctrine is still on

O crime organizado no Brasil está tão infiltrado no estado quanto no México. A diferença é que, enquanto no caso mexicano ele se organiza em cartéis violentos, formados nos estratos mais baixos da sociedade, no modelo brasileiro ele conspira do alto, a partir de sua elite política e econômica. Levando em conta essa particularidade, o texto explora um desenho de pesquisa de casos mais similares, aproveitando simetrias históricas, culturais e econômicas entre os dois países, para refletir sobre as razões dessa diferença sutil no caráter da captura do estado por grupos criminosos. / Organized crime in Brazil has penetrated the state in Brazil as much as in Mexico. The difference is that while in Mexico it is organized by violent cartels, formed in the lowest rungs of society, in Brazil it conspires from above, from its political and economic elite. Considering this particular feature, the text uses a most similar case research design, taking advantage of historical, cultural and economic symmetries between the two countries, to reflect on the reasons for this small difference in the character of state capture by criminal networks.

A vigente política brasileira sobre drogas aloca, aos que as consomem ou aos que as comercializam, ao patamar da ilegalidade – ainda que preveja a diferenciação de fronteiras imprecisas, entre consumo e tráfico. A conjuntura proibicionista proporciona a existência de complexas redes sociais, entre os que mais lucram, e não são identificados como tais, e os que são passíveis de punição/correção. Estes últimos são os que se encontram na porção final da rede de vendas de drogas, em geral ocupada por jovens pobres, fato denunciado no contexto das medidas socioeducativas descritas por este trabalho. Esta dissertação é o resultado de um processo cartográfico junto a jovens em cumprimento de medidas socioeducativas em meio aberto por envolvimento no comércio de drogas, a partir da inserção em grupos de Prestação de Serviços à Comunidade e de Liberdade Assistida. Apresento aqui os elementos vivenciados no período da pesquisa, relacionando-os com as noções de criminalização das juventudes, biopoder e de medicalização do social, analisando como estes se expressam na contemporaneidade e como são trabalhados e (re)produzidos no contexto socioeducativo. Demonstrar como estes conceitos se articulam e constituem a produção de discursos na relação com jovens envolvidos/as com a rede de comércio de drogas, com as políticas públicas para crianças e jovens ao longo do tempo e com as instituições responsáveis pelas medidas socioeducativas em meio aberto foram as pistas percorridas por esta cartografia. Neste contexto é coerente questionar, serão os jovens que estão em conflito com as leis, ou as leis que estão em conflito com os jovens? / The current Brazilian substance misuse policy allocates to those who consume or to those who sell, the illegality – although providing a differentiation, yet of blurred boundaries between consumption and trafficking. The prohibitionist scenario provides the existence of complex social networks among those who profit from, and are not identified as such, and of those whom are punishable. The latter are those who are in the final portion of the drug sales network, generally occupied by poor young people, a fact reported in the context of socio-educational measures described in this work. This dissertation is the result of a social cartography process with young people in fulfilment of educational measures for involvement in the drug trade, part of the integration in Service Delivery groups to Community and Assisted Freedom. I present here the experiences during the research period, relating them to the criminalization of youths, biopower and the medicalization of social, analyzing how these are expressed in contemporary society and how they are worked out and (re)produced in the social and educational context. To demonstrate how these concepts are linked and constitute the production of discourse in relation to young people involved with the drug trade network, with public policies for children and young people over time and with the institutions responsible for social and educational measures were the hints used by this cartography. In this context it is relevant to question: is it the youths who are in conflict with the laws, or are the laws in conflict with the youths?

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-03-16T11:06:11Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcilaine Martins da Silva Oliveira - 2014.pdf: 2572947 bytes, checksum: d44565f00d1df174d5274ac1b954b2cd (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-03-16T11:06:55Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcilaine Martins da Silva Oliveira - 2014.pdf: 2572947 bytes, checksum: d44565f00d1df174d5274ac1b954b2cd (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-03-16T11:06:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Marcilaine Martins da Silva Oliveira - 2014.pdf: 2572947 bytes, checksum: d44565f00d1df174d5274ac1b954b2cd (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-23 / Conselho Nacional de Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico - CNPq / For years the unlawful drugs market was described as an almost solely male activity. However, in the recent times, the data of women imprisonment for their involvement in this kind of illicit trade have pointed to a fresh perspective in which there are gradual insertion of them in such practices criminalized. If before the explanations of the accession of women to drug trafficking occurred for the account of affective relationships, the study presented here, a pioneer about the female criminality in Goiás, points out a change in behavioral in the entrance of women in the illicit drug trade, pointing to certain autonomy of choice and decision on their part. In that sense, the aim employee in this dissertation, the theoretical contributions through Symbolic Interaction, objective sought to understand the insertion of the women incarcerated for the crime of drug trafficking over the experiences lived by them. / Durante anos o mercado ilegal das drogas foi descrito como uma atividade quase que exclusivamente masculina. Contudo, nos últimos tempos, os dados de aprisionamento de mulheres por envolvimento nesse tipo de comércio ilícito têm apontado para uma nova perspectiva em que há a inserção gradativa delas nessas práticas criminalizadas. Se antes as explicações da adesão de mulheres ao tráfico de drogas ocorriam por conta de relações afetivas, o estudo aqui apresentado, pioneiro sobre a criminalidade feminina em Goiás, aponta para uma mudança de comportamento na entrada das mulheres no comércio ilícito de drogas, assinalando para certa autonomia de escolha e decisão por parte delas. Nesse sentido, os objetivos desta dissertação, por meio das contribuições teóricas do Interacionismo Simbólico, foram compreender a inserção das mulheres encarceradas pelo crime de tráfico de drogas e as experiências vividas por elas.

In recent years Mexico has been confronted with accelerating levels of violence related to drug trafficking organizations and counter-drug efforts. This paper examines the consequences of Mexico’s current drug trafficking situation on the country’s fledging democracy. In particular, the impact of the drug war on Mexico’s democratic consolidation is evaluated through civil-military relations, the judicial system, and the press. Conclusions about the prospects for Mexico’s nascent democracy are then examined.