Forum:
Advisory Panel on the Region of Central and South America.
Issue:
The reconstruction of Drug Trafficking Laws.
Student Officer:
Ruchirangad Sharma
Position:
Deputy-President of the APQCSA
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------CO-CHAIR PROFILE
Ruchirangad Sharma
Salutations Delegates! I am Ruchirangad Sharma, and I will be your Deputy President of this
prestigious conference. I am currently in Yr. 11 at Garden International School and I have been in the
MUN circuit for the past 2 years. In these years, I have participated in various different committees as a
delegate and this will be my first time as a co-chair. Being in this committee, I am looking forward to
working with delegates and enjoying the weekend conference. Moreover, I hope that this conference is
a learning tool for all and I wish that we learn and take away something useful and aspiring from this
conference. If you have any concerns or issues, please do not hesitate to contact me at my email
202402@students.gardenschool.edu.my or message me on Facebook (Ruchirangad Sharma)
HISTORY OF THE COMMITTEE
The Advisory Panel is a unique committee, which has specified attributes that set it apart from other
committees. As opposed to standard THIMUN committees, consisting of delegates representing nations
and organizations, The Advisory Panel is a panel of experts who are simply knowledgeable on their
nation/organization’s position, as well as the topic at hand. Experts are able to give possible
perspectives through personal understanding on the issue, while considering their organization/nations
actions. Even though experts are not directly representing the views of their nation or organization, it is
important to understand that an expert’s conclusive decision should be in their nation/organization’s best
interest. Within the Advisory Panel, the house debates on a clause-by-clause bases, and submits
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clauses for proposals, as opposed to resolutions. After the passing of a proposal, the proposal is
submitted to the Security Council (SC) for further debate.
THE RECONSTRUCTION OF DRUG TRAFFICKING LAWS
BACKGROUND INFORMATION.
The trafficking of drugs especially in the Central and South American Area is a big issue within
the whole country. At present day, there are almost 1.26 million Americans aged 12 and older, who are
current illegal drug users. The drug cartels are known to play a lucre dative game which involves
methods such as bribery, blackmail or death to get normal average Americans to work for them. This
number is slowly increasing as south of the border, nearly 50,000 people have been killed in the last 5
years.
The U.S. International Narcotics Control Strategy reports that 90% of cocaine reaches the United
States through its southern border. Drug-related violence in Mexico has gotten so bad that it is now
spilling over into states such as Arizona, which has suffered a rash of kidnappings and ransoms.
(Arizona's 370-mile border with Mexico serves as the gateway for nearly half of all smuggled marijuana.)
Texas' request for National Guard protection from Mexican drug crime prompted Director of National
Intelligence Dennis Blair to declare last week that the Mexican government had lost control of its own
territory.
With the current drug trafficking laws already in play, the distribution or trafficking of drugs
castigate the selling, movement and illegal import of unlawful substances, such as marijuana and other
illegal drugs. The action takes against the offenders of the laws can vary depending on various factors
such as the type and amount of drugs involved, the geographical area of distribution of the drug, and
whether they targeted children. There are different sentences for the distribution of drugs and trafficking
of these unwanted materials, the range going form 5 months to 3-5 years.
In 2007 and 2008, cocaine was used by some 16 to 17 million people worldwide, similar to the
number of global opiate users. North America accounted for more than 40 per cent of global cocaine
consumption (the total was estimated at around 470 tons), while the 27 European Union and four
European Free Trade Association countries accounted for more than a quarter of total consumption.
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These two regions account for more than 80 per cent of the total value of the global cocaine market,
which was estimated at $88 billion in 2008.
The Current Situation
At current levels right now, the whole world is consuming about 340 tons of heroin and with
seizures giving an annual flow of around 430-450 tons of Heroin to the world Heroin Market. It is
recorded that from that tally, opium from Myanmar and the Lao’s People’s Democratic Republic is
approximately 50 tons while the remaining 380 tons is known to come from the Afghan Opium. An
Approximate of 5 tons is kept in Afghanistan, and the remaining bulk is sent to other countries using
routes going through and into the neighbouring countries of Afghan.
Earlier this year on February 19th, Mexico’s biggest drug lord, Joaquín Guzman Loera was
arrested after he had escaped from a high security prison in the US 13 years ago. Loera, also simply
known as El Chapo due to his short stature was head of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal organization
named after the Mexican Pacific coast state of Sinaloa where it was formed. El Chapo was responsible
for over 2000 of the deaths and according to the U.S. Attorney General, the Sinaloa Cartel is responsible
for importing into the United States and distributing nearly 200 tons of cocaine and large amounts of
heroin between 1990 and 2008.
For the North American Drug markets, the drugs usually come from Colombia and Mexico into
Central America via sea using ships and boats called Narco-Submarines, which were hard to track using
a radar system.
Definition of Key Terms
Trafficking-
Dealing or trading of something illegal, in terms of drugs or humans in the form of slaves.
Narco-Submarines: A type of custom-made ocean-going self-propelled submersible vessel built by
drug traffickers to smuggle drugs.
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Methamphetamine: Is
a neurotoxin and
potent central
nervous
system (CNS) stimulant of
the phenethylamine and amphetamine classes that is used as a recreational drug
and, rarely, to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and obesity.
Timeline of Events
Date
Description of event
1977 The Joint Committee of the New York Bar Association concludes that the Rockefeller
drug laws, the toughest in the nation, have had no effect in reducing drug use but have
clogged the courts and the criminal justice system to the point of gridlock.
1981 Congress commends the 1878 Posse Comitatus Act, which forbids the armed forces to
enforce civil law, so that the military could provide surveillance planes and ships for
interdiction purposes.
1984 U.S. catches 10,000 pounds of marijuana on farms in Mexico. The seizures, made on
five farms in an isolated section of Chihuahua State, suggest a 70 percent increase in
estimates that total U.S. consumption was 13,000 to 14,000 tons in 1982.
19th January 2001:
El Chapo Escapes from a high security prison in Islas Marias,
located in Mexico.
22nd February 2014:
El Chapo is arrested in a beach side house while on holiday with his
4th wife, a beauty queen.
Relevant International Actions/Past UN Efforts
ANTONIO MARIA COSTA, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime
(UNODC), recalled three occasions where Member States worked to strengthen the collective response
to drugs, crime and terrorism. In 1998, a special session of the General Assembly launched a 10-year
plan of action relating to the threat posed by illicit drugs. In 1999, Member States started the
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negotiations for a Convention against organized crime, and signed the Palermo Convention in
2000. The same year, the Security Council created the 1267 Committee in response to international
terrorism, after murderous attacks in Kenya and Tanzania, and moved quickly after 9/11 to strengthen
that response through additional resolutions.

https://www.unodc.org/pdf/report_1999-01-01_1.pdf
Possible Solutions
There are various different solutions that could be put forward to help and reduce this problem of
drug trafficking, but the delegates should be looking at problems that apply to all the different countries in
the committee and the solutions they come up with should be feasible and useful.
An appropriate response would be to seek to strengthen the bonds between the state and
marginalized communities dependent on or vulnerable to participation in illicit economies or usage of
these illegal drugs. Efforts need to focus on ensuring that communities will obey laws – by increasing the
likelihood that illegal behaviour and corruption will be punished via effective law enforcement, but also by
creating a social, economic, and political environment in which the laws are consistent with the needs of
the people. Another approach could be through education. People could be educated on the
consequences of taking these drugs and teenagers especially aged 15-19 who are mainly those who are
trapped in there illicit activities.
Bibliography

https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/drug-trafficking/
UNODC. "Drug Trafficking." N.p., n.d. Web.
< https%3A%2F%2Fwww.unodc.org%2Funodc%2Fen%2Fdrug-trafficking%2F >.

http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/66/Issues/drugs/drugs-crime.shtml
"United Nations, Main Body, Main Organs, General Assembly." UN News Center. UN, n.d. Web.
<http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/66/Issues/drugs/drugs-crime.shtml>.
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
http://www.deamuseum.org/museum_ida.html
"Illegal Drugs in America: A Modern History." Illegal Drugs in America: A Modern History. N.p.,
n.d. Web. <http://www.deamuseum.org/museum_ida.html>.

http://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ftp3.shtml
"DEA /Federal Trafficking Penalties." DEA /Federal Trafficking Penalties. N.p., n.d. Web.
<http://www.dea.gov/druginfo/ftp3.shtml>.

http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/html.cfm/index146646EN.html
"Legal
Topic
Overviews:
Penalties
for
Illegal
Drug
Trafficking."
N.p.,
n.d.
Web.
<http%3A%2F%2Fwww.emcdda.europa.eu%2Fhtml.cfm%2Findex146646EN.html>.

http://www.globalissues.org/article/755/illicit-drugs
"Illicit Drugs." Global Issues. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.globalissues.org/article/755/illicitdrugs>.
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