On September 12, the biggest drug trial in Nicaragua's history got further underway. There are not only twenty-four defendants in the crowded courtroom, but also several police commandos wearing black hoods and carrying large assault rifles. It is the prosecution’s claim that the men, including a national election official, were responsible for laundering millions in profits from cocaine. The magnitude of the trial illustrates just how large the operation was, as the trafficking was across all of Central America and had gangsters involved from Columbia and Mexico. The drug gangs are now bringing the cocaine to nations like Nicaragua and Belize for final processing. Operations to stop drug cartels such as this one are in full swing and are even including many US marines. In late August, two hundred marines were dispatched to Guatemala to begin counter-drug operations there. People around the globe are outraged, and are seeking help to stop these cartels. Recently the Nicaraguan people were shocked when several news vehicles from Mexico were stopped and were found to be carrying 9.2 million in cash and cocaine.
These crimes are not just taking place in Central America, they are global. For instance, in August Honduran officials seized 17.6 tons of cocaine in a shipping container from Taiwan, and just weeks later seized 221 pounds of heroin from France. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime believes that these traffickers are sending the drugs around the globe in an attempt to throw off law enforcement. They want to route their final product through a non-suspicious location in order to make it to the North American market. While it seems Central America is taking most of the blame for the trafficking and being made an example of to the rest of the world, there are thousands of other traffickers globally just as guilty.
9/14/12, 9:10 AM
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