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March 1971
variously called "Cosa Nostra," or "the
syndicate."
It
is an international alliance
of at least 24 tightly knit families or
groups. Each family is linked to the
others by mutual understandings, agree–
ments and treaties (Cressey,
Theft of
the Nation,
pp. x-xi).
Members of "the mob" don't actually
sell heroin or hard narcotics to dope
addícts on the street. Rather, they are
the importers and wholesalers. Theír
wholesale profits are conservatively
estimated at
$90
million a year. They
sell to the "dealers" who are the
middle-men; the "dealers" sell to the
addicts or "junkies." Such dealers are
indispensable to the Mafia and could be
considered part of the organization in a
broad sense, but rarely are bona fide
members.
In the narcotics racket, each dealer is
an independent businessman. He pur–
chases at wholesale prices from Mafiosi
and sells at retail prices. His is the
greatest risk.
The "big shots" in the drug smug–
gling business are the importers of
multi-ki lo lots. Under them are the "kilo
men" who handle nothing less than a
kilo of heroin at a time. These men pur–
chase from the importers and receive
delivery from couriers. The kilo man
then dilutes the heroin by adding three
kilos of milk sugar for each kilo of
heroin. Then the product is sold to
"quarter-kilo men" and then to "ounce
men" and then to "deck men," with
more adulteration taking place at each
stage. Eventually, street dealers dispense
the heroin in five-grain packets called
"bags" or "packs" or "balloons." The
final cost to the addict is an estimated
6,000
to
9,000
times the price paid to
the Turkish farmer for the original
kilo!
To purchase the estimated three tons
of heroin smuggled into the United
States each year, addicts - or "Junkies"
- must pay over
$2
billion. To get the
money for heroin, most of them steal
from
two
to
five
times that amount in
property.
An estimated
50
to
80
percent of the
robberies and street crimes committed in
the big cities of the United States are
drug-related. Each year dntg addicts
must steal from $4 to
$10
biJJion in
The
PLAIN TRUTH
stolen goods just to keep the heroin
flowing into their veins!
T he Mari juana Mecca
Opium and heroin smuggling attracts
much attention since it is so dangerous.
However, marijuana smuggling dwarfs
the heroin traffic in volume.
Sorne authorities believe
1,000
toas
of marijuana cross into the United
States from Mexico every year.
Imported (smuggled) Mexican mari–
juana, or "Mary Jane," sells for
$35
a
kilo
(2.2
pounds) in Tijuana. Across
the bordee in the United States it brings
$50-$57.
Last summer in Massachusetts
it wholesaled for
$200-$300.
Middle–
men retail it for
$5
a bag, containíng
2.5
grams. Or, the original kilo in
Tijuana may eventually make
2,500
marijuana "joints" or "reefers" tbat sell
for
$1
each! Thus, the smuggled
1000
metric tons of "pot" would be enough
to make
2,500,000,000
"reefers" worth
$2.5
billion!
It's
big
business! More than
70,000
people a year are arrested for marijuana
violations in Los Angeles County alone!
From
1960
to
1968
marijuana viola–
tions skyrocketed to
700
percent for
adults and over
2000
percent among
juveniles!
Marijuana has become a "gold tnine"
for smugglers and peddlers since the
midd!e and upper dasses have begun to
adopt it as their new "thing."
Said one probation officer in Los
Angeles, "There's not one kid l've
talked to who does not use it or hasn't
used
it."
Obviously, for mari juana to be so
omnipresent it cao't al! be smuggled
in secretive cloak-and-dagger episodes.
Sorne is "borne grown." From
1967
to
1968
the number of marijuana
platzts
seized in California Jeaped from
72,772
to
1,327,260 -
an increase of over
1,500
percent!
Many in Southern California wander
around and plant a few marijuana seeds
here and there in out-of-the-way places
where otber people will unwittingly
water them. Others plant them in tbeir
own flower or vegetable gardens.
What
Is
Being Done?
In view of the seriousness of the
worldwide smuggling of narcotics, one
29
would thínk many governments would
be engaged in massive efforts
to
stem
the flood. You might be surprised to
Jearn that there has been
very little
real
internat ional cooperation until recently.
In
1969
Operatíon Intercept was
launched along the Mexican bordee and
dramatically cut the flow of drugs. This
was followed by Operation Coopera–
tion, a combined American-Mexican
venture to smash smuggling at its
source. In January
1970
the United
States made an important agreement
with France. Paris pledged a stepped-up
campaign against drug traffickers Also,
President Nixon has beefed up the
undermanned Customs Bureau.
Perhaps the most important measure
taken thus far is a stepped-up war on
organized crime in the United States by
the Attorney General's office.
However, the big drug crackdown
has preved to be a big disappointment.
Ironically, increased governmental con–
cero appears to have
boosted
drug traf–
fic at least temporarily. Smugglers,
fearful that traditional sources and
channels may soon be closed, have beeo
moving large shipments of drugs while
they are able.
Even if production of opium in Tur–
key could be controlled, or wiped out,
there is
already
enough that has been
stored to meet the world's demand for
severa! more years! The backlog of
heroin stored in the United States has
been estimated to be over
7,000
pounds
- enough to supply
L50
million shots
of heroin !
The chief international effort to con–
trol narcotics comes from the United
Nations. The U. N.'s Commission on
Narcotic Drugs is the world's watchdog
on narcotícs. However, the
U.
N. agen–
cies are toothless -- powerless to deal
with narcotics traffic. The United Nations
is merely a collection of diverse, inde–
pendent governments. The U. N. can
exhort nations to comply with narcotics
control efforts, or attempt to persuade
them, but it has
no power.
It cannot
FORCE
individual nations to "toe the
line.''
In truth, today the responsibility for
cutting back and controlling narcotics
production and trafficking devolves
upon each individual national govern-