In 2016, more than 59,000 Americans died of drug overdoses. This is more than the number of American casualties suffered during the entire Vietnam War. Understandably, the lives lost on foreign soil prompted a wave of civil outrage. Yet, today’s drug epidemic hasn’t prompted a similar response, and as a nation, we’re trending in the wrong direction.
Who profits from this epidemic, one in which Americans spend $65 billion annually?
Transnational criminal organizations. Theirs is a staggering illicit industry, fueled by fear, violence, corruption, and death – all to gain an edge in the race to profit from Americans’ insatiable demand for illicit drugs.
Although they are the commodity of choice today, drugs are not the only challenge. These networks smuggle bulk cash and deal in arms and people – with our border as their goal line.
In South and Central America, transnational criminal organizations drive regional instability and are inextricably linked to activity we see along our southwest and maritime borders. Desperate families exhaust life savings and hand over their children to human smugglers in hopes they will make it to the U.S. and build better lives. Citizens who do not feel secure or lack stable incomes become easy targets for exploitation. As drug-fueled violence degrades security, more and more people feel unsafe, prompting a vicious cycle of affected people fleeing or contributing to violence.
Without a doubt, the criminal networks creating this situation threaten our way of life. Our economic prosperity. Our national security.
These criminal networks are typically referred to as “organized crime,” as their center of gravity is monetary gain that is advanced through illicit drugs, violence, corruption, extortion, human smuggling and trafficking, money laundering, weapons smuggling, and human rights violations.
The criminals are organized — the U.S. and our international partners need to be even more organized if we are going to prevail.
Make no mistake, this is a vast and sophisticated threat the U.S. cannot defeat alone. But we can begin by reducing our nation’s illicit drug demand and applying a network approach, including cyberspace, to draw down the financial assets and institutions of criminal networks that are heavily dependent upon U.S. bulk currency.
On the international front, authorities, information sharing, judicial reform, resources, and a coordinated approach to law enforcement – from the municipal to the national level on land, at sea, and in the air – contribute toward making the environment hostile to transnational criminal organizations.
Judicial reform is particularly critical, as corruption and inferior evidence standards result in paltry prosecution rates when compared with the U.S.’s near 100 percent record of bringing arrested smugglers to justice. Such an approach must be complemented with an emphasis on education, economic growth, and employment. This is no simple task and will require continued trust and confidence among like-minded nations and years of commitment. That, and tangible outcomes and measures of effectiveness to address the security environment and economic development.
For its part, the U.S. Coast Guard, as a military service and member of the national intelligence community with broad enforcement authorities, has operated seamlessly with many of the Caribbean, Central American, and South American nations, as well as Mexico and Canada.
To amplify our mutual trust, the majority of these nations pre-authorize the U.S. Coast Guard to enter their sovereign territorial seas and use all force necessary to apprehend drug smugglers.
This multilateral maritime enforcement regime, with the support of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, as well as the Department of Defense and Director of National Intelligence, enabled the Coast Guard to interdict more than 200 metric tons of cocaine (the most in history) and 585 smugglers in 2016.
All of these interdictions occurred off the coast of Central and South America, underscoring Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly’s assertion that our border begins 1,500 miles beyond our southwest border.
This is not a war. It is a campaign with many fronts – law enforcement, humanitarian, defense, regulatory, economic and diplomatic, to name a few.
This is, and will continue to be, a generational challenge. As The Interdiction Committee engages with our partners, we are laser-focused on increasing regional cooperation, ensuring real-time information sharing, and continuing multinational operations. We have the long game on our minds, and we have the safety and security of our communities in our hearts.
Admiral Paul F. Zukunft is the 25th Commandant of the U.S. Coast Guard and chair of The Interdiction Committee, an interagency body that coordinates, oversees, and integrates drug interdiction efforts in support of the National Drug Control Strategy.
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