The Police Service of Northern Ireland interceded in an attempted drug smuggle of 441 pounds of cannabis across the Ireland border this past Wednesday. A truck carrying 100kg of the cannabis was discovered in Greece which then lead to the addition cannabis being discovered in a warehouse in Athens. As a result of this bust, both sides of the Irish border was searched. In addition, homes and businesses in Armahg and Tyrone have been raided by police in Northern Ireland. A total of four men have been arrested, two of whom were from Northern Ireland and the others of Greek nationals. Police in Northern Ireland say this is one of the largest drug related seizure in several years.
Drug smuggling has been a global social problem since around the 1970s. Over 158.8 million people use the cannabis drug and it is cultivated in more than 172 countries around the globe. Of those, the largest producers have become Mexico, Paraguay and Afghanistan. The top user nations are not those listed but Micronesia and Papua in New Guinea. Recently, a larger bust was discovered in a tunnel running through Mexico and California where over 14.5 tons of marijuana was seized. It is estimated that each year, citizens spend over 38.5 billion dollars on the production and distribution of cannabis, surpassing the amount spent on corn and wheat. This does not include of billions of dollars spend to promote against the use of the drug and the crime rates caused by the selling and distribution.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/23/police-cannabis-haul-ireland
9 comments:
Wow! All I could think about when I read the first line of your post was "Thats a ton of pot!!". With countries cracking down on drug smugglers and making it harder to bring drugs into the country, corrupt organized crime groups are slowly falling and the world is becoming a safer place.
Even though it is discouraging to see this much of an illegal drug being moved, it is comforting that they have been caught. This shows that even though it is a slow process, staying committed to fighting the drug trade will pay off.
it is amazing how these drug smugglers are getting away with moving all these illegal substances. I certainly would have never thought about Ireland as being a mover of this drug, i would have thought maybe mexico or something, at any rate it is great that the drugs were found and taken. we need to continue to be more on the look out
It seems like a lot of pot, but when you realize it was only 1 shipment it pales in comparison.
I was really shocked. When I think of weed I usually think about Mexico. That was alot especially for one shipment and I'm sure there was much more because it said its grown in 150 countries
Whoa! That is a lot of drugs it is sad that drug smuggling is such a big global issue. I think that we have to start cracking down more on the drug smugglers so that our generation and the younger generations will be safe by reducing these organized crimes.
I am sure the four men that have been arrested did not think how much this affects many people daily. Although drug smuggling has been a global social issue for many years it still seems to be very prevalent. The amount of drugs that are being smuggled for example Mexico and California is unbelievable. Also the amount of money that is spent on buy drugs is extremely high. Hopefully there will be more awareness programs to help prevent drug smuggling.
This is bittersweet.It is a great comfort to know that these people have been caught. However, it is sad that this is happening at all.
That is a lot of cannabis. I thought this was interesting because I had thought that Ireland's drug of choice for smuggling was cocaine. It's nice to see that global authorities are cracking down on this issue.
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