According to a federal agents, a prison gang was operating a racket within the Baltimore City Detention Center in the state of Maryland. Documents filed in federal court by the FBI stated that one gram bags of marijuana were being sold in the jail for $50. Pain killers were being sold for $30 a pill to inmates.
In addition to the contraband drugs, female corrections officers were having sex with the inmates. According to the FBI, four correction officers became pregnant from one inmate.
In an article in the Washington Post, the article says that the names of 14 female guards were written on a wall and that each woman was charging $150 to have sex with an inmate.
(See additional illegal prostitution prices.)
Source: Theresa Vargas, Ann E. Marimow and Annys Shin, “Baltimore jail case depicts a corrupt culture driven by drugs, money and sex,” Washington Post, May 4, 2013.
In 2012, police in New York City arrested 40,661 people for marijuana charges in the city. In 2011, there were 52,220 marijuana arrests, and 52,089 arrests in 2010.
In the first four months of 2013, there were roughly 10,000 arrests for marijuana crimes in New York City.
Across New York State, authorities seized 210 kilos during 2012, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration. In 2010, officials seized 2,500 kilos of marijuana.
Source: Brad Hamilton, “‘High’ tolerance: NYC on the road to decriminalizing pot,” New York Post, May 13, 2013.
Police agencies in Spain seized 20.7 tonnes of cocaine and 325.5 tonnes of hashish in 2012. The amount of cocaine seized was roughly 25 percent higher than the amount seized in 2011. The amount of hashish was down 8.5 percent from 2011.
The amount of cocaine seized in Spain represented 41 percent of all cocaine and 73 percent of all hashish seized in Europe in 2012.
Source: AFP, “Spain fights to lose status as drug gateway to Europe,” Google News, April 22, 2013.
From January to September 2012, security agencies in the Republic of Kosovo seized 1,091 kilograms of marijuana, 51.5 kilograms of heroin, 7.2 kilograms of cocaine, and 153 ecstasy tablets. The amount of illegal drugs seized in 2012 was higher than the amount of drugs seized in 2011.
Officials estimate that most drug users in the country are men between the ages of 18 to 35 who smoke marijuana.
Source: Menekse Tokyay, “Turkey and Balkans battle drug trafficking,” SETimes.com, April 22, 2013.
People in the United States spend an estimated $18 Billion a year illegally buying marijuana on the black market.
The legal medical marijuana market is valued at $1.5 Billion a year in 2013. Industry analysts estimate that the medical market industry could be worth $6 Billion by 2018.
The worldwide market in illegal marijuana is currently valued at $141.80 Billion.
Source: Tim Mullaney, “As marijuana goes legit, investors rush in,” USA Today, April 8, 2013.
Security officials in Mexico eradicated 40 percent more poppy crops than marijuana crops in 2012.
12,347 hectares of poppy was eradicated in 2012, compared to 8,670 hectares of marijuana. Back in 2007, marijuana was being destroyed at a 50 percent rate higher than poppy, with 22,965 hectares of marijuana destroyed compared to 11,393 hectares of poppy.
In the decrease in the trafficking of marijuana has also been dropping when looking at the seizure rates. In 2007, authorities seized 2,068 tons of marijuana in 2007, and 1,154 tons in 2012. Heroin seizures rose from 124 kilos in 2007 to 3,716 kilos in 2012.
7 percent of the world heroin market is supplied by Mexico.
(See prices of marijuana per gram.)
Source: Marguerite Cawley “40% More Poppy Grown in Mexico than Marijuana: Govt,” Insight Crime, April 3, 2013.
From 2010 to February 2013, security officials in Costa Rica seized 22 tons of cocaine and 377,000 doses of crack cocaine.
Officials also destroyed almost 4 million marijuana plants within the country, and seized $10.5 Million in cash from drug trafficking organizations.
Source: Mario Garita, “Communities, police fight narco-trafficking,” Inside Costa Rica, March 28, 2013.
The Federal Drug Service reported that it seized 106 tons of illegal drugs in Russia in 2012.
Almost 30 tons of the illegal drugs was marijuana, and 5.7 tons was opiates.
The amount seized in 2012 was 70 percent higher than the total haul in 2011.
Source: “Russia nets major drug haul in 2012,” RT, January 15, 2013.
The city of Osh in Kyrgyzstan is reported to be the drug capital of Central Asia, according to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
Due to the city’s geographic location, the city is used as a key transit point for drug trafficking routes in Central Asia. Heroin is trafficked from Afghanistan into Tajikistan, and into Osh, where is it then moved to Kazakhstan onto its main destination of Russia.
Anti-narcotics agencies in the city seized over six tons of various illegal drugs in 2012. Included in the seizures was over 76 kilograms of heroin, 51 kilograms of hashish, and over 1 ton of cannabis.
(More data on marijuana abuse.)
Along with the transportation of drugs, many city residents also abuse the illegal drugs. There were 1,400 registered drug addicts in the city. but health officials believe that the number of addicts is actually 10 times higher.
Source: “Central Asia’s ‘Drug Capital’ Fights To Stem Tide Of Narcotics,” Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, January 4, 2013.
Security officials in Venezuela announced that over 45 tons of illegal drugs was seized in the country in 2012. Over 60 percent of the illicit drugs were cocaine, with 27.17 tons of cocaine being seized by police. The remainder of the drugs were mostly marijuana seizures.
In addition to the durgs, authorities in Venezuela arrest 20 major drug traffickers. Between 2006 and 2012, police reported that it has arrested 95 major traffickers in Venezuela.
36 clandestine landing strips and 18 planes that were used for transporting narcotics were also seized by police in 2012.
Source: Edward Fox, “Venezuela Narcotics Seizures Up in 2012,” Insight Crime, December 21, 2012.
