WeaponsTrafficking

Causes and Effects by Kai Taylor

A Hidden Threat: Weapons Trafficking Though weapons trafficking does not have a very large physical footprint, it does have some incredible impact on today's society. The causes include poverty, crime, war, and rebellion. Not only is it an illegal practice but it also affects the economy. If all these weapons are being sold under the table they are not being taxed nor is there any control or background checks. It is said that weapons trafficking goes hand in hand with another form of trafficking, human and drug trafficking.(Peters) Drug trafficking is a dangerous activity that involves drug cartels controlling their turf. What better way to do this than the Soviet powerhouse AK-47 7.62mm Assault Rifle, traded for only a hundred dollars in a brown paper bag? Drug traffickers need weapons to control their areas and keep rival drug dealers off their turf. Weapons traffickers steal weapons from weapons depots, abandoned military bases and various stores, and then happily trade them away for drugs or money. Afghanistan, the heroin capital of the world, is currently fighting a war with the United States. The Afghans trade their opium for machine guns, sniper rifles, and anti aircraft weapons. These include the tried and true AK-47 and Dragunov. Russian smugglers, paired with corrupt officials cleverly smuggle weapons out of the Former Soviet Union (FSU), they then set up shop and trade drugs for guns. It is suspected that these drugs are then shipped to the United States to cause internal conflict.(Devereux) When weapons like high precision anti tank and laser guided anti aircraft launchers are stolen or suddenly go missing it shows "the compliance of senior military officers. "(Devereux) Many of the Russian and Afghan officials are corrupt and therefore it is easy for smugglers to attain high quality weapons such as the AT-4 anti-tank rocket launcher. By attaining such high end weapons it gives terrorist groups the raw power to destroy planes or buildings. Charlie Devereux says : For rifles or other types of weapons to disappear and end up in Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC) hands could happen in various military scenarios but for anti-tank rocket launchers to reach the FARC it is obvious that there is some kind of involvement at senior levels of the armed forces. Poverty is also a strong factor in causing people to traffic weapons. Even children help with weapon trafficking just to get a small piece of food. Several poverty riddled countries have a faltering government and reduced law enforcement. People often see various forms of trafficking as the easy way out just like prostitution.(Prosser) This is clearly shown when two teenagers from poverty struck Southern Mexico began trafficking inert grenades from the United States back to Mexico. They were then turned into live grenades which could then be used to fuel rebellions or even war.(**Misak**)

Just as drugs are linked to crime so are weapons. When buying a weapon from a trafficker one does not know what kind of blood was spilled for that particular weapon. When a convoy of military vehicles is carrying a truckload of weapons, they did not wake up thinking they might be attacked for those weapons.(Prosser) An important cause for the wide availability of 80% receivers or basically gun kits. An AK-47 kit can be purchased as what is called an 80% receiver. This means that as long as the last 20% is completed by someone all by themselves without any outside help, they can legally own and in some countries even operate a very real AK-47. It is then not too difficult to acquire professional tools such as a lathe and drill press. With a few simple trips to Home-Depot, anyone with a little cash can make a efficient gun factory in their very own garage. When these guns are complete they can be smuggled to weapons trafficking circles, ensuring there is never a shortage of weapons or money.("Receiver") Aside from guns, other weapons are trafficked as well. These include grenades and various other types of explosives. Grenades are being seized while moving between the United States and Mexico. Misak says the following: You can easily buy inert round and pineapple grenades through US military surplus dealers, as that's perfectly legal. They're cheap, too - $8.99 for an inert pineapple model. This could signal a new way of obtaining grenades for DTOs in Mexico - buy them legally in the US, convert them into live grenades, then send them south in a similar fashion to pistols and rifles. Bottom line is whether we like it or not, "Organized crime is rewarding." (Morrison 34) There will never be a stop to weapons trafficking as long as there is greed and the mighty driving force of all of mankind, money. The poor move weapons, the rich buy weapons, the soldiers use the weapons, and the police confiscate them...Hopefully. This is a continuous cycle and there is no end in sight!

A Shot into the Future.- Andy Wilson Weapons trafficking,if unstopped, will continue to put AK's to nukes into the hands of paramilitary, terrorist, and drug cartels. Weapons trafficking is a lucractive business, and fuels gang activity in many countries including the United Kingdom and the United States. If we cannot control the illegal weapons, security will in countries even with great law enforcement will be threatened.

The Dark Future of Weapons Trafficking Weapons trafficking are the bodyguard to the drug industry and a disease to global security. There are at least 639 million firearms in the world today, of which 59% are legally held by civilians. (Shah) Many more guns are being produced every day, and every day becomes potentially more dangerous. Six hundred thirty-nine million firearms and 41% are in illegal possession. This is one recipe for chaos unless countries are willing to step up arms control. A school shooting in Dunblane, Scotland made the UK rethink gun control and outlawed guns over .22 caliber. Since then shootings in the UK have dropped from previously low numbers. A deadly reminder illegal arms trading can hit anywhere is the North Hollywood shootout. Two gunmen, Larry Phillips and Emil Matasareanu, robbed a bank with, the Soviet workhorse, AK-47 assault rifles. The 7.62mm ammunition is a proven man-stopper and the 30 round ammunition cartridge is more than sufficient. (“Kalashnikov”). The Ak-47s could out shoot whatever fire arms the L.A.P.D had. Any police officers who responded, found themselves taking cover from whatever they could find to block the body dropping 7.62mm rounds. Unfortunately, the AK rounds could bounce off the cement and fragment sending pavement chunks and hot shrapnel into officers. Before the SWAT teams could arrive, the police officers decided to use rifles from the gun store close to the bank. The officers shot Emil Matasareanu 29 times to try to end the massacre. Other police officers pursued Phillips down residential blocks before; Phillips AK got a stove-pipe jam. A stovepipe, or a stovepipe jam, is a failure to eject jam where the spent case gets lodged in the ejection port between the breech and the barrel. (Stovepipe@Everything2.com) Phillips was in a rush from the police and decided to ditch his assault rifle. However, if he was thinking clearly, the jam would have been an easy fix as you just have to re-cock the gun to clear the blockage. Instead, Phillips pulled out a pistol and continued to fire away until he turned the gun on himself, therefore ending one of the worst shoot outs in modern times. After this terrible day, law enforcement agencies across the nation stocked up on more powerful firearms to stop an incident like this from getting that far. In the drug industry, drugs go north as guns go south. These guns help protect drug cartels from law enforcement. Mexico is having a deadly drug war and is having some victories. “The most deadly combat system of the current epoch is the adolescent human male equipped with a Kalashnikov assault rifle." (“Biggest”) Old Soviet weapons are being used by Al-Qaeda. The main cause for this can be traced back to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Mujahedeen or “freedom fighters” raided Soviet weapon caches. Also Charlie Wilson, a US senator, gave the Mujahedeen weapons to fight off the Soviet invaders during the 70s. The Mujahedeen fighter, Osama Bin Laden, formed his own group called Al-Qaeda. “Al-Qaeda” is Arabic for “the base.”(“Al-Qaida”) Illegal small arms, in the hands of hostile factions, will become the cause of global unrest. Another threat of weapons trafficiking is the easily available and easy to manufacture “MANPADS”. “MANPADS” are man-portable air defense systems such as the FIM-92 Stinger. The FIM-92 Stinger is a personal portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile developed in the United States and entered into service in 1981.(“FIM-92”) The “MANPADS” can be reversed engineered and used to terrorize the airline industry. The Stinger has accounted for 270 aircraft kills. With this impressive resume, it could reach and destroy an aircraft such as the Russian Mi-24 helicopter during the Soviet-Afghan War. The Stinger has also destroyed combat jet aircraft. This would cause major panic and cripple the airline industry. When the LA police held a program to turn in guns for money, a man brought in a Stinger. This is how easily available the MANPADS are. If this dreadful issue is not acted upon, we, as a global community, will see more deadly conflicts that are fought off the battlefield, and in our neighborhoods. If guns are not accounted for, they will continue to pop up in deadly shoot outs in American streets, drug cartels, and terrorist factions.

Solutions for a Better Tomorrow: Hayley Keon Though it may appear that there are no solutions, that no progress is being made in order to halt the continuous terror that weapons dealers cause in the lives of many (whether directly or indirectly), that is not the case. Many organizations are working around the clock to ensure that justice and safety sweeps the globe, bringing those responsible for the illegal dealing of arms. The UNODC- United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime- has held a conference on transnational crime of all sorts, suggesting the implementation of different solutions. The UNODC has ideas for justice systems worldwide to increase the ability of their Witness Protection Programs, which would lead to more witnesses coming forward to bring arms dealers to justice. Most notably, the Anti-Organized Crime and Law Enforcement Unit (working with the UNODC) is focusing extensively on training for law enforcement, judges, customs officials. Helping to make those in positions of power aware of different methods used for bringing these people to justice is a strong step forward. In addition, the unit has also conducted assessment surveys of crime in different areas of the world, and plan to conduct more in the future. The UN is considering creating a treaty to help reduce and control the trading of arms. This idea was supported by many at the conference, including Ambassador Bertil Roth, who explained the need of such a document. “It has been argued that as existing regional agreements and arrangements on arms exports do not always work properly, we can hardly expect a global legally binding treaty to work better. What would be the added value of such a treaty? I would answer that part of the explanation for the limits of these regional arrangements, is precisely their regional character that leaves considerable loopholes. Only an Arms Trade Treaty with the highest possible common standards can create a system to which everybody is bound and where opportunities for the diversion of conventional arms trade are sensibly diminished.” (Roth). No one yet knows exactly what will be on the treaty, but WorldChanging (a nonprofit organization) hopes that the five points of the Campaign Against Arms Trade will be included: //end government subsidies and support for arms exports; end exports to oppressive regimes; end exports to countries involved in an armed conflict or region of tension; end exports to countries whose social welfare is threatened by military spending; support measures, both in the UK and internationally, which will regulate and reduce the arms trade and lead to its eventual end//. (“Ending”) But, even the United Nations’ efforts leaves something to be desired. Joost R. Hiltermann, the executive director of the Arms Division Human Rights Watch, delivered a speech in which he put the scrutinizing eye on the proposed solution to illegal arms dealing. “ Governments have chosen to tackle only one slice of the problem, the illicit trade in small arms. And they have chosen to deal with it as a security question, not the grave humanitarian problem that it really is.” The legal trading of arms (paid for and known about by a non-corrupt government) may assist the quality of life for people as well as improve the state of the illicit arms trade. The producers of these weapons spend their materials on the creation of government bought weapons, which will limit their resources to create weapons that may fall into the wrong hands. Additionally, making weapons for governments will strengthen the local economy by employing individuals and strengthen militaries. The sun is rising on the horizon as thoughts and ideas are made into action. Improvements are being made- solutions are quickly heading in our direction, bringing us closer and closer to a globalized world in which illegal arms dealing is, for the majority, illuminated.

 Proof that weapons trafficking exist Weapons trafficking are one of the top crimes in the world. Weapons are bought in the wide spread of the world. There are many varieties of weapons that are traded or bought illegally. The most popular weapon is the AK-47, which is used between many terrorist through out the world. Weapons Trafficking are in the drug wars also. The Mexican Drug war is the closes foreign weapons traffickers to the U.S. [|**"[Arizona DPS arrests 3 after undercover buys of grenades."**]]  (Longmire). George Bush aide urges weapons bans to slow down the Mexican Drug war (Longmire). So far the U.S. is being blamed for most of the drug war to the south border. Nearly 600 illegal weapons were seized along the border by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials from March through September, an increase of more than 50 percent from the same period of 2008 (Longmire). Some of the people in the business would trade women for weapons or weapons for drugs. Some nations use weapons trafficking to increase military power. The total number of firearms in Brazil is thought to be around 17 million[|[4]] with 9 million of those being unregistered [|[3]] (Gun). Chinas’ punishment is that the person would spend three years in prison for minimum and the maximum would be the death penalty (Gun). In Slovakia a gun liscense can be owned by anyone (Gun). While having a large amount of civilian owned guns, Norway has a low gun crime rate (Gun). Britain have found no arms trafficking in Iran. Could it be because they are very good at hiding weapons or is it because they don’t do it? "I have not myself seen any evidence -- and I don't think any evidence exists -- of government-supported or instigated" armed support on Iran's part in Iraq, British Defense Secretary Des Browne said in an interview in Baghdad in late August. "It's a question of intelligence versus evidence," Labouchere's commander, Brig. James Everard of Britain's 20th Armored Brigade, said last month at his base in the southern region's capital, Basra. "One hears word of mouth, but one has to see it with one's own eyes. These are serious consequences, aren't they?" (British) Based on this commanders’ knowledge there is no proof of weapons trafficking in Iran. Is he wrong? Is he making it up to up his reputation?  Evidence of Iranian armed intervention in Iraq is "irrefutable," one U.S. commander in Iraq, Brig. Gen. Michael Barbero, told Pentagon reporters in August. The lead U.S. military spokesman in Iraq renews the allegation almost weekly in Baghdad. (British) "All troubles come from Iran,"(British). Maj. Dominic Roberts of the Queen's Dragoons said: "We have found no credible evidence to suggest there is weapon smuggling across the border."(British) The many mafia lords are also weapon traffickers based on my knowledge. The rocket was manufactured in 2007 in Iran and is called Falaq-1. Falaq-1 is a strategic missile of immense destruction power and was used by Hezbollah against Israel in the July 2006 war. The rocket was manufactured in 2007 in Iran and is called Falaq-1. Falaq-1 is a strategic missile of immense destruction power and was used by Hezbollah against Israel in the July 2006 war. (Iraq) I think the government in Baghdad is trying to say the following to the Iranian counterpart: 1-the provision of small arms is one thing but the provision of heavy weapons that can cause panic and relatively much more destruction is another. 2-if we can accept that machineguns, RPGs and mortars can be smuggled into Iraq without the Iranian government's knowledge; we can't accept the same claim when it comes to weapons of this magnitude. 3-we know and you know that you're providing these weapons and we can't remain silent anymore. At the same time neither of us is going anywhere anytime soon, so we must learn to coexist. You don't wan us to be your enemies and we can't afford to make you ours at the moment, so knock it off and let's not show the world the dirty laundry

Works Cited "80% Receiver FAQ" Acme Arms. January 16 2007. Web. 8 Feb 2010. 

"Al-Qaida." //GlobalSecurity.org - Reliable Security Information//. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. .

"Biggest Terror Threat Is from Small Arms." Global Policy Forum. Global Policy Forum, 4 Dec. 2002. Web. 8 Feb. 2010. [] (British) Find No Evidence Of Arms Traffic From IranTroops in Southeast Iraq Test U.S. Claim of Aid for Militias. By Ellen Knickmeyer Washington Post Foreign Service Wednesday, October 4, 2006, [] Devereux, Charlie. “Guns for Drugs.” //Independent//. Tuesday, 29 April 2008. Web. 20 Jan 2010. . (Gun politics) Wikipedia,1/15/10 []

"FIM-92 Stinger -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 09 Feb. 2010. []. (Iraq) Quietly Confronts Iran With Evidence of Weapons Traffickinghttp://iraqthemodel.blogspot.com/2008/05/whats-behind-iraq-iran-weapons.html "Kalashnikov AK47 (AK-47) - Assault Rifle - History, Specifications and Pictures - Infantry Weapons." //Military Factory - Military Weapons: Cataloging aircraft, tanks, vehicles, artillery, ships and guns through history.// Military Factory.com. Web. 21 Jan. 2010. .

Misak, Lauren. ” DPS arrests 3 after undercover buys of grenades” //Phoenix.// November 18 2009. Web. 27 Jan 2010. <http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/ 2009/11/18/20091118GrenadesFound18-ON.html>. Morrison, David C. "Transnational Crime: Globalizations Shadowy Stepchild." //Great// Decisions 2010 The Foreign Policy Association New York:2010. Print. Peters, Katherine. "Guns and Drugs" Proquest. 14 December 2009. Web. 20 Jan 2010. Prosser, Andrew. “Nuclear Trafficking.” Center for Defense Information 22 November 2004. Web. 27 Jan 2010. ( [|Sylvia Longmire] ) Mexico's Drug War is licensed under a [|Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License], 1/15/10 [] Shah, Anup. “Small Arms—they cause 90% of civilian casualties.” Global Issues, Updated: 21 Jan. 2006. Accessed: 20 Jan. 2010. <[]>