Meeting 2

06/01/2018

As many as 15 articles were reviewed. Some key information was acquired from all the literature.

Overall picture was possible to be drawn from the literature reviews. Primary source of the data

that is mostly used are following categories:

 Surveillance Data

 Interview data

 Experiential data

 Police crime report

Nature of drug trafficking network:

 Networks are vertically interacted

 Medelin and cali cartels were decapitated but yet survived self -adjustment property

 Increase in price attracts new player keeping it sustained

 Core- strong relationship and periphery- loose relationship (strength of weak relationship)

 Core steers whole network (bonding rather than functional utility

 Core is formed by common ethnicity, family or lineage, tribal connection and gangs

 Major attribute is inside information. How resistant to disruption depends on effectiveness

and efficiency to collect info.

 Cali cartels used taxi drivers and street vendors

 Network operates in cellular means needs to know basis.

 Flexible and responsive networks. It has been moved to Florida to south western border

under and again relocated to Florida when western border was attacked again.
  Loosely coupled network reduces the possibility of disruption and ensures higher security

 Diversity and dissimilarity is a key feature that makes it difficult.

Markets in illicit goods may usefully be split into four groups:

1. from illicit source to illicit transport to illicit destination market (drug)

2. from illicit source to illicit transport to licit destination market (antiques, diamonds, vehicle

parts,)

3. from licit source to illicit transport to illicit destination market (people)

4. from licit source to illicit transport to licit destination market.

There are two types of illicit drug network:

 large-scale mafias operating in certain markets, small flexible groups operating at the mid-

level of local and regional trade, and freelancing individuals hired for courier activity at

the retail level

 drug trafficking can be more closely resembled as a cottage industry

 Figure: networks of redundant bridges

Node 1 is protected from direct exposure, and possibly detection, by working through nodes 2, 3,

and 6. This contrived isolation and lack of interdependency may account for why some illicit

markets appear to resemble cottage industries

 trafficking networks are flexible and react to opportunities and constraints by expanding

and contracting in size

 dense but less centralized; sparse but centralized (secured)

 Figure: types of network

Recently, the most emerging challenge is online illicit drug market. More than 50 crypto markets

are operational right now. They have same retailer capability as ebay or amazon. Crypto markets

of drug differ from conventional mafia based cartel system. Main challenge is it is a common place

where actor at varying stage of supply chain can interact.

Following figure shows how online ordering works.

Figure: online ordering process of illicit drugs

Traditional strategy is either supply control or demand control. Supply side is always preferred.

Crackdowns can be generally defined as an intensive police operation characterized by increased

severity or certainty of sanction and by a public relations campaign to advertise the operation.
Despite their popularity, there is limited evidence to support the effectiveness of police

crackdowns in reducing the supply and/or demand of illicit drugs. The FBI estimated that total

sales on Silkroad (SR1) from February 2011 to October 2013 were in the range of $200 million

USD. This translates to about $80 million USD on average per year. The first, on October2, 2013,

led to the shutdown of SR1 by US law enforcement, the seizure of over $33 million USD in

bitcoins, and the arrest of its founder and administrator. Operation Onymous was a combined effort

by law enforcement agencies from 16 European countries and the US and led to the arrest of 17

people, including the administrator of Silkroad 2 (SR2). Online illicit drug network is much more

robust than traditional network.