Foreign Nationals and Drug Smuggling
| Published date | 01 December 1999 |
| Date | 01 December 1999 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455059904600412 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
266
70%
of
the
older
group
were
at
least
weekly
drinkers,
which
is
in line
with
the
national
average.
.
Smoking
was
more
prevalent
than
the
national
average,
with
about
a
quarter
of
the
younger
respondents
and
over
40%
of
the
older
cohort
being
current
smokers.
.
Most
respondents
had
sufficient
financial
resources
to
spend
on
drugs.
.
At
age
13,
over
90%
of
respondents
were
able
to
recognise
the
most
common
licit
and
illicit
drugs.
Drug
Trying
and
Drug
Use
Across
Adolescence:
A
Longitudinal
Study
of
Young
People’s
Drug
Taking
in
Two
Regions
of
Northern
England.
By
Judith
Aldridge,
Howard
Parker
and
Fiona
Measham,
Drugs
Prevention
Advisory
Service,
Home
Office,
1999.
Foreign
Nationals
and
Drug
Smuggling
Who
trafficks
in
drugs
and
how
are
they
sentenced?
This
study
sought
to
answer
these
questions
by
drawing
on
data
relating
to
1,715
drug
trafficking
arrests
at
Heathrow
Airport
from
September
1991
to
July
1997.
The
study
found
that
just
under
two-thirds
of
all
traffickers
were
foreign
nationals,
the
great majority
of
whom
(68%)
were
smuggling
cocaine,
followed
by
cannabis
(20%),
followed
by
heroin
(9%).
UK
nationals
were
far
more
likely
to
smuggle
cannabis
(46%),
but
a
significant
number
were
involved
in
cocaine
importation
(45%),
followed
by
heroin
(12%).
The
overall
pattern
is
one
of
rapidly
increasing
importation
of
cocaine,
accompanied
by
decreasing
importation
of
heroin.
Approximately
three-quarters
of
the
traffickers
were
men,
but
women
formed
a
significantly
higher
proportion
of
foreign
national
traffickers
(32%
compared
to
22%
of
UK
traffickers).
They
were
three
times
as
likely
to
carry
class
A
drugs
than
class
B,
and
were
very
unlikely
to
have
positions
of
relative
power,
i.e.
act
as
‘greeter/meeters’
or
organisers.
They
were
much
more
likely
to
take
the
more
high
risk
role
of
drug
carriers.
This
makes
them
particularly
vulnerable
to
prosecution,
as
non-carriers
were
found
to
be
much
less
likely
to
face
conviction.
However,
in
general,
women
did
not
seem
to
receive
longer
sentences
than
men.
Other
findings:
.
The
majority
of
heroin
cases
came
from
Asia,
most
cocaine
cases
came
from
South
America,
and
most
cannabis
cases
from
Africa.
This
is
in
line
with
what
would
be
expected
given
that
each
is
a
principal
source
continent
for
the
respective
drug.
·
Foreign
resident
traffickers,
and
women
in
particular,
were
more
likely
to
have
children.
This
supports
the
notion
that
foreign
national
traffickers
may
be
motivated
by
the
desire
to
make
money
for
their
families.
.
The
number
of
Nigerians
involved
in
trafficking
steadily
decreased
between
1992
and
1996.
This
may
be
due
to
the
effects
of
the
Nigeria’s
Decree
33
(which
stipulates
that
traffickers
convicted
abroad
face
further
prosecution
and
a
possible
five
year
sentence
on
return
to
Nigeria);
or
to
the
increasing
difficulty
of
obtaining
visas.
.
Those
trafficking
in
class
A
drugs
were
overwhelmingly
likely
to
be
imprisoned.
Although
a
fifth
of
the
total
sample
received
a
non-custodial
sentence,
the
vast
majority
of
these
were
convicted
of
cannabis-related
offences.
As
the
authors
acknowledge,
only
limited
conclusions
can
be
drawn
about
sentencing
practice,
given
that
variables
such
as
previous
drug
convictions
and
co-operation
with
customs
could
not
be
included
in
the
analysis.
However,
bearing
in
mind
this
qualification,
the
study
did
find
that
factors
such
as
nationality,
residency
and
age
had
varying
effects
on
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