In Fiscal Year 2008, Arizona border guards seized nearly 75,000 pounds of illegal drugs entering from Mexico.  The estimated street value of the drugs was more than $235 Million.

Marijuana was the most seized drug, with 71,000 pounds confiscated.

Source:  Randal C. Archibald, “U.S. and Mexico Agree on Shift in Drug Trials,” New York Times, October 30, 2009.

134 million cigarettes were seized by authorities in Ireland in 2008.

Source:  Michael Lavery, “800 million black market cigs smuggled in each year,” Herald, October 30, 2009.

30 percent of all cigarettes smoked in Quebec are contraband, leading to losses for the Quebec government of $300 Million in taxes.

Source:  Canwest News Service, “Quebec to crack down on contraband tobacco,” Gazette, October 28, 2009.

Around 78,500 felony and misdemeanor arrests for marijuana was made in the state of California in 2008. Around 74,000 arrests were made in 2007.

Source:  Jesse McKinley, “Push to Legalize Marijuana Gains Ground in California,” New York Times, October 27, 2009.

According to Nigeria’s Police Affair Minister, over 500 people were abducted in kidnap and ransom cases in the first 6 months of 2009.

The ransom demands range between $700,000 to $3 Million, although negotiations usually bring down the actual payments.

Source:  Aderogba Obisesean, “Now it’s not just oil workers under threat from Nigeria’s kidnappers,” Telegraph, October 28, 2009.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police stated that there are 105 criminal gangs who are involved in the illicit cigarette trade in Canada.

Source:  Jorge Barrera and Jack Branswell, “Black-market smokes could finance terrorists: RCMP,” Calgary Herald, October 27, 2009.

In a report by the BBC, the average price of boys who are sold on the black market in China is $6,100.  Girls are sold by child traffickers for around $500.

The children are primarily sold to childless couples.

Source:  “China parents lynch book salesman,” BBC News, October 27, 2009.

According to a report in the Observer, the illicit cultivation of cocaine in Colombia has lead to the loss of 2.2 million hectares of tropical forests in the country.

In addition, for each hectares of cocaine that is grown, three hectares of forests is cleared.  For each gram of cocaine used, four square meters of the rain forest in Colombia is destroyed.

Source:  Jamie Doward, “Colombia’s endangered species at the mercy of jungle drug cartels,” Observer, October 25, 2009.

10 million hectares of forests have been lost due to illegal logging in Indonesia.

Source:  Kathy Marks, “Illegal logging responsible for loss of 10 million hectares in Indonesia,” Independent, October 26, 2009.

In the Mexico State of Michoacan, 85 percent of legitimate businesses have some link to the drug cartel La Familia or its money.

Source:  Stephen Gibbs, “‘Family values’ of Mexico drug gang,” BBC News, October 22, 2009.