National Southwest Border Counternarcotics
National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy (NSBC) was first published in 2007 and focused generally on the entity taken by the United States centralized administration in averting prohibited trafficking of drugs within the Mexico and the United States. The United States is sustaining Mexico’s endeavors and helping to reinforce legal capacities and law implementation. The main goal of the national southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy was to lessen the flow of illegal drugs, drugs advances, and the connected implements of violence across the southwest boundary (Fukumi, 2008, p. 67).
Information and intelligence sharing
The National Border Counternarcotics Strategy has adopted a policy of intelligence and information sharing. The bilateral efforts and Merida proposal, Mexico and the United States government are increasing the scope and nature of their intelligence collaboration on drug trafficking. The bilateral efforts and Merida initiative, the Unites States and Mexico administration are increasing the scope and the nature of their intelligence cooperation on the drug trafficking (Rovner, 2008, p. 157). The southwest boundary has dramatically changed with the governmental expanded border has lead to an extensive demand of timely, relevant, comprehensive intelligence needed by the groups to carry out effective operations, assist in establishing enduring preparation and inform resource distribution.
The intelligence programs in the past few years has help in incorporating and improving the flow of applicable and timely investigation and intelligence as well as the practice of information sharing and synchronization amongst state, central, local and tribal agencies that devoted in shielding the southwest border. They are specific intelligence activities and programs that have planned to support the operational efforts on the border. These include the support actions and enhancement of information and intelligence sharing association. These support action entails; enhancing management, synchronization of information and intelligence collection, investigation and among the law enforcement groups and intellect society within the southwest boundary. It has been done by establishing interagency agencies of intelligence such as Interagency Working Group on Intelligence Coordination (IWG_IC). The law enforcement and intelligence community has worked collaboratively to enhance information sharing in the local, state and tribal partners. Escalating responsibilities associated to counterterrorism and homeland defense has lead to an increase demand of intelligence functions by the intelligence community and law enforcement organization (Longmire, 2011, p. 56). In addition the support action has also enhanced actions linkages intelligence products and efforts to operational capabilities and requirements. Sustains action also improves management of intelligence evaluation production between the intelligence community and law enforcement law. In enhancing information and intelligence sharing allocation the law enforcement and intelligence community has work together to seen it come to pass. In addition, to ensure that there is coordination of intelligence sharing with the Mexico, efforts, procedures and process should be put in place make sure that their intelligence information is shared or established from the Mexican system. Sustainable development has been made to ensure that there is effective management of intelligence activities. Intelligence and enforcement groups have improved their agendas to assist coordination of intelligence and their operational efforts.
Investigation and prosecution
Investigation and prosecution is another policy that has been adopted by the National southwest border counternarcotics strategy. Their have been four major group that prevent the flow of drug in the Southwest boundary. The United States and the Mexican law enforcement and the intellect group discover ways to improve their capacities to assume or help examination and prosecutions attempts. This has been achieved through advance extension of the United States law enforcement liaison presence in Mexico. Recruiting of qualified personnel on the ground where the unions are operating will lead nearer relationship with Mexican law enforcement associates. Use of coordinated and joint efforts among the United States law enforcement groups the departments of treasury to help in dismantle and interrupt drug trafficking group operating on the Southwest border (Fukumi, 2008, p. 89). To improve intelligence support to analysis all the law enforcement personnel involved in the Southwest boundary research must have all the appropriate clearances to carry out their responsibilities efficiently (Longmire, 2011, p.54). Application of threats appraisal and other interagency products will assist in enhancing intelligence in investigation. After the estimation has been performed and standardize assessment in the result of the law enforcement maneuvers. Increasing prosecutorial and legal reserves devoted to examination in the Southwest boundary and Mexico. This has been enhanced through increasing the capacities of the United States offices to handle, increasing the capabilities of other criminal fairness constituent to maintain examination.
On the other hand, enhancing the capabilities of the investigative groups and the United States attorney’s offices to dismantle the monetary transportation of the Southwest border drug trafficking association has also played a key role in implementation investigation. Increasing the judicial cooperation with Mexico by utilizing Merida initiative actions to improve cooperation between the United States and the Mexican counterparts has helped in improving investigation. In addition investigation has also been enhanced through attacking corruption concerning domestic communal administrator along the southwest border (Rovner, 2008, p. 134). Increasing the focus on relationships among the community bribery and terrorization in the United States national security, this also has help in improving the examinations that concern drug trafficking in the southwest border.
Effects of the applied policy to the involved parties
A number of parties across the country are either directly or indirectly affected by the policy applied by the counternarcotics. These include the parties affected by the abuse of drugs in the United States of America. Taking a brief highlight at the parties, these include the educational institutions which comprise of players such as the students (directly affected), parents (directly and indirectly affected) and counselors. The other party affected includes the professional assistants who include the community organizations, government entities, legal and treatment professionals and the general United States citizens. The policies that have been applied by Southwest Border Counternarcotics therefore should be seen as measures that will not only affect the drugs abusers but also the general United States population as well as the international community at large.
Drafted, proposed and implemented in 2009, one of the most dominant and important policies that has been applying Intelligence and Information Sharing. Through the sharing of information between various quarters, the Southwest Counternarcotics hope to reduce the inflow of illicit drugs, their proceeds and the inflow of instruments of violence such as these drugs’ syringes and needles into the country through the country’s entry points. By enhancing the intelligence practices in the south western border, this will go a long way in ensuring that the drugs that are most likely to be brought into the country through the southern border from Mexico are controlled, and this way the antinarcotics will have prior information concerning the inflow. This will therefore ensure that there is timely reaction by the counternarcotics (Andreas, 2009, p. 37). Secondly, they will be in a position to disrupt the drug trafficking organizations. There will be various parties that will be affected by this policy. The general public for example will have to produce informants. These will be the people involved with the inside information of providing the counternarcotics with intelligent information as to when the drugs will be brought in. The persons will therefore have to be provided with security against being concealed to the public, otherwise they will be left insecure and prone to these drug traffickers. Secondly, students and their teachers, families and parents will be affected by the policy bearing in mind that they will have to be taught how to identify and avoid these drug traffickers. This will ensure that they are kept safe and protected from any chances of getting into contact with the drugs to which they are prone to abuse. This is a task that to a large extent falls on the students’ teachers, lecturers and parents. Educating them concerning the drugs is another task that should be implemented by the drugs’ abuse professionals and legal organizations.
Another important policy that has been applied by the National Southwest Border Counternarcotics strategies is monitoring the entry of cargo at ports, their transportation on road or rail between ports and also in the air and marine transportation. This is a policy that has been made possible by the deployed technology which seeks to enhance efficiency in smoking out the drugs before they reach their United States’ destination. This will include liaising with government entities such as the US Border Patrol which will include enhancing of ballistic protection. The general United States’ public will be affected in the essence that monitoring these ports and inland movement of cargo will slow down the transportation sector. Secondly, legal and professional organizations will have to be included in the exercise as they will assist in identifying these drugs.
Ethical considerations
A number of ethical considerations are likely to arise from these policies which may affect the exercise and the efficiency of the policy at large. Liaising with the public for example for provision of any information leading to tracing of these drugs for example may lead to the informants being labeled snitches. This compromises the people’s security. Secondly, the searches conducted in the ports and especially inland in trains, transport vehicles etc could raise issues of sexual harassment especially when a suspect is searched by the opposite gender (National Drugs Control Policy, 2009, p. 4).
Possible improvements
Bearing in mind that the above highlighted issues are likely to come up as a result of the policies to be implemented in tracking down the drugs, a number of improvements and changes should be made to make them more community friendly and at the same time efficient in carrying out their tracking down tasks. For example, ports authorities as well as the inland drugs trackers should ensure that the persons conducting the search are professionally trained and should not intimidate the suspects. Other options to use include conducting technological search on the suspects. The informants on the other hand should not be selected from the general public, rather they should be intelligent employees officially hired by the counternarcotics (Hinojosa, 2007, p. 57). This will provide them with security both for their lives and their job as well, and consequently they will be more willing to cooperate with the counternarcotics. Lastly, creating democratic relations with Mexico will go a long way in ensuring that the drugs and weapons do not leave the country, and any offenders found will be executed in their own countries. This will therefore include creating legal relations with Mexico and working hand in hand with the Mexican authorities and this will go a long way in ensuring that the drugs are held by the necessary authorities even before leaving the country.
REFERENCES
Andreas, P. (2009). Border Games: Policing the U.S.-Mexico Divide (Cornell Studies in Political Economy). New York: Comstock Publications.
Fukumi, S. (2008). Cocaine Trafficking in Latin America (Global Security in a Changing World). Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing.
Hinojosa, V. J. (2007). Domestic Politics and International Narcotics Control: U.S. Relations with and Colombia, 1989-2000 (Studies in International Relations).London: Routledge Press.
Longmire, S. (2011). Cartel: The coming Invasion of Mexico’s Drug Wars. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
National Drugs Control Policy. (2009). National Southwest Border Counternarcotics Strategy. New York: Office of the National Drugs Control Policy Press.
Rovner, E. S. (2008). The Cuban Connection: Drug Trafficking, Smuggling and Gambling in Cuba from the 1920s to the Revolution (Latin America in Translation/En Traduccion/Em Traducao).North Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press.
