large shipments. Successful marijuana organizations thus blazed paths, initiated smuggling methods, marshaled networks of associates, and developed other relevant expertise in moving drugs toward market.
The principal psychoactive chemical in Cannabis sativa L, or marijuana, is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), and marijuana potency is measured by the THC percentage found in the dried plants. Traditionally, Mexican varieties of marijuana have tended to be among the cheapest, lowest grade, and most common. Quality has improved over time, as traffickers in Mexico invested in better strains, and a few notable varieties—Acapulco Gold, Zacatecas Purple, Michoacán, and Popo Oro among them—gained early and enthusiastic followings among consumers. However, even after years of effort to develop enhanced Mexican marijuana, its average THC level, as seized along the U.S. border in 2003, measured only 4.8 percent.33
In contrast, more potent Colombian marijuana has regularly fetched the highest prices in the North American market.34 In the 1970s, after eradication curbed Mexican output and the use of paraquat in aerial spraying frightened consumers, American traffickers stimulated the growth of a Colombian marijuana industry by providing seeds, financing, and technical assistance.35 The cannabis cultivated in the lower Sierra Nevadas on Colombia’s Guajira Peninsula then quickly gained an excellent international reputation.36 Users came to value such varieties as Red Dot, Red Point, and San Miguelito, and the pale yellow strains like Santa Marta Gold and Blue Sky Blonde.37
In stark contrast the THC for most Central American marijuana has tended to be rather low, and cannabis from the region has resembled cheap Mexican varieties or the darker and more commonplace strains, such as Mango Viche and La Negra, grown at lower altitudes in southern Colombia. International demand for Central American marijuana has generally been weak. While Costa Rica and Guatemala have occasionally exported the drug, the only Central American strains of marijuana for which significant foreign markets have developed are Belize Breeze and a variant of Red Dot known as Panama Red. During the 1980s cannabis production in Belize crescendoed, as it moved for a period into the first rank of marijuana-exporting countries. And, though in much smaller quantities, producers on Panama’s Las Perlas archipelago have long cultivated some marijuana for export.
To move Central American cannabis to the North American market, most traffickers have preferred maritime shipments, though smuggling networks once also transported much Belizean marijuana by small plane. As for South American marijuana, while some aerial trafficking has occurred, drug networks have regularly shipped Colombian marijuana to Mexico to be exported overland into the United States, while routing other shipments toward western Europe.38 Most commonly, however, numerous vessels carrying marijuana through the Caribbean basin have aimed directly for the United States. Rather than employing Colombian vessels, which have the signal drawback of flying the flag of a leading drug-producing state, smuggling rings have often preferred to use boats registered elsewhere, such as Panama or Honduras. Typically older seventy- to ninety-foot fishing trawlers, characterized by extra fuel drums on deck and relatively large crews to assist in unloading, such “mother ships” have sometimes passed through Caribbean and Pacific waters off the Central American coasts.39
Map 1.2
The U.S. Coast Guard has led international efforts to stem maritime drug passage. Given time and resource constraints and the large number of legitimate commercial ships, making a bust at sea can be challenging without prior intelligence on the vessel, its route, and even the location on board of the drugs.40 Nevertheless, in their continuous patrols of U.S. territorial waters and of the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, and Pacific Ocean, coast guard ships have routinely attempted to do so. Coast guard officials (including navy ships with a coast guard officer on board) are authorized to stop and inspect any boat flying the U.S. flag or located in U.S. territorial waters, that is, within twelve miles of the shore of the United States or one of its possessions. In international waters, however, given the venerable doctrine of freedom of the seas, U.S. authorities cannot board vessels of another state at will. When a coast guard crew suspects drug trafficking, it radios the ship, requesting permission to board to check its documentation or seaworthiness. Signs of drug trafficking might be spotted in the ensuing inspection. If the ship’s master refuses boarding privileges or if suspicious matters emerge during the inspection, the coast guard can check information about the vessel with authorities from the flag state. If drug-trafficking suspicions remain, the coast guard may request a Statement of No Objection through the U.S. Department of State, from the country in which the ship is registered, to board, inspect, and enforce appropriate criminal laws on the vessel, using force if necessary.41
Central American states have almost invariably cooperated in issuing these statements. Their governments have also been engaged in implementing antidrug policies of various sorts, and collaborating in major seizures can help officials appear vigilant and competent, domestically and internationally. Central American governments have not wanted to seem to be shielding traffickers, which might cause political trouble at home and antagonize the U.S. government, possibly threatening the continued flow of development assistance. Nevertheless, despite international cooperation, considerable U.S. resources, and some immense seizures, drugs continue to be successfully shipped to market. The maritime transit zone is vast—perhaps six million square miles—shipping has been extensive, and patrols cannot cover the region comprehensively.
As for Central American marijuana exports, this dimension of the trade had multiple effects. Colombian traffickers gained dominance in international cocaine trafficking by adapting methods developed in marijuana smuggling.42 They thus naturally took note of successful marijuana exports via Central America and drew on already existing domestic drug networks there. In fact, the marijuana trade often established Central American criminal groups and then helped bridge-state traffickers to become more capable and elusive, wealthy and well connected.
Marijuana, however, has not been an ideal drug for transnational criminal enterprises. Because it has to be shipped in bulk, rather than in a concentrated form, and its odor is quite distinctive, authorities have found cannabis fairly easy to interdict. Furthermore, marijuana is not as addictive as harder drugs. Since it is relatively easy to grow, global supplies have usually been plentiful, something that has capped its price and resulted in lower profit margins than heroin or cocaine.43 Consequently, experienced marijuana traffickers, intent on maximizing profits and with smuggling methods, routes, and networks already in place, have often moved to the transport of hard drugs.44 Just as marijuana has been a gateway to more dangerous drugs for users, so it has often led to more lucrative drug smuggling for traffickers.
Central American Heroin Trafficking
The Central American heroin trade has diverged from that of marijuana in numerous respects. Traditionally, Europe has been the leading western market for diacetylmorphine, or heroin, originally supplied largely by producers in South and Southeast Asia. Even in North America, Asian producers controlled the heroin supply for many years, with the drug often imported via couriers or inside shipping containers.45
