History
Drug trafficking is a global illicit trade involving the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition laws. UNODC is continuously monitoring and researching global illicit drug markets in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of their dynamics.
https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/
To the left is a picture illustrating common or heavy drug routes for cocaine and heroin. As you cans see North America has a lot more route ends than any other country, We have a drug problem and it needs to be resolved. Taking away USA's part in the illegal drug trade will weaken the drug cartels in Mexico because we are their main customer.
Early 19th Century
In the early 19th century, an illegal drug trade in China emerged and as a result, by 1838 the number of Chinese opium addicts had grown to between four and twelve million.[6]The Chinese government responded by enforcing a ban on the import of opium that led to the First Opium War (1839-1842) between the United Kingdom and Qing dynasty China. The United Kingdom won and forced China to allow British merchants to trade opium. Trading in opium was lucrative, and smoking opium had become common in the 19th century, so British merchants increased trade with the Chinese. The Second Opium War broke out in 1856, with the British joined this time by the French. After the two opium wars, the British Crown, via the treaties of Nanking and Tianjin, the Chinese government was obliged to pay large sums of money for opium they had seized and destroyed, which were referred to as "reparations".
Medellin cartel
from 1970 to early 1990's
the medellin cartel in the 70's basically introduced cocaine to the american public and ever since americans are addicted to it. the way the drugs came in and stil do come in are through simple to complex smuggling routs such as by car, boat, plane or even submarines. Pablo Escobar besides the fact of selling drugs he also ordered the execution of many of people mainly police officers. The Medellin cartel also brought tons of money out of circulation from the USA then putting it in the hands of the most notorious drug kingpin in the world, Pablo Escobar Gaviria.
Noriega: Narco-state
Manuel Noriega was a former dictator of Panama and also a drug trafficker using his power to turn Panama into a narco-state. After refusing to give up to President Bush ordered him to be captured and operation acid gambit went under way. Bringing Noriega out of power it was estimated that he had 3.5 million in cash hid in banks in France. Click link to learn more about Manuel Noriega. He served from 1967-1990.