Any websites that explain the drug trade in a simple to understand way?

What about it?

Just play the game Dope Wars. You’ll figure it ALL OUT!

Are you trying to buy some?

eh? its like any black market. explain it the same way you would explain the prohibition on alcohol.

I’m sorry, I meant to say, the hierarchy of the drug trade. Who grows/produces, how does it get shipped, who buys it in bulk, who sells it, etc etc. Basically just an explanation of how drugs get from their growing source all the way to the streets, and who is involved.

Mizuki, LKidKyle, shilolo – I flagged all of your answers because they are in no way relevant to my question or helpful in any way. I asked for a website to explain this because my google skills are falling through, not snarky responses, videogames, or “eh?” Get back to me when you can answer my question. Thank you.

Well, ALRIGHTY THEN!

@advilicious, [mod says] Try giving us more details so that we can better understand your question and give you more relevant answers.

Sure. As stated above, just looking for a website that explains the hierarchy of the drug trade in a simple and easy-to-understand way. Kind of a “where do drugs come from” guide – how does it get from the growers to the supplier to the middlemen to the dealers, to the low level dealers etc etc. I’m looking for a website – not personal opinions.

Sorry if my question was not clear enough. However, saying things like “Well ALRIGHTY THEN” and asking me if I’m trying to buy some do nothing but pollute and add filler to the site.

What drug are you talking about. The answer will vary greatly depending. But a simple rule is each hand that it goes through, the price gets marked up higher and higher so everyone makes a profit. The grower will sell huge quantities for a low price to move his product, each person after that splits it up bumping the price up so they make profit, so on and so forth until it reaches the consumer.

Thanks, uberbatman. I have no particular drug preference, any will do. That helps a bit, but do you know of any particular websites that elaborate on what you told me?

LKidKyle – flagged again. Jeez, is it that hard to understand that if you don’t have an answer to the question, just don’t type anything? It’s really not that difficult.

Here you go. The one, the only, DEA.

That was hard. I had to type for a whole 3 seconds. My fingers hurt.

well noob, if you checked I did answer your question the first time. just not the question you meant to ask. and i didn’t refer you to a website because i knew of none. I don’t remember you requesting people to answer only if they had a website

“I know some people who know some people who robbed some people.”

That’s essentially how the drug trade works.

People know some people who know some people who know some people who know some people who grow or have connections or whatever. That’s why stuff gets cut down and whatnot over time.

@tits——can you introduce me to your people that will do my homework assignment for me?

Haha, if you want to buy something. Here’s another example though: have you seen American Gangster? Denzel Washington’s character finds someone who grows and sells pure processed heroin, gets it back to the states, cuts it and sells it to big time buyers, who cut it down more to sell it in smaller quantities (for some profit though) to people who either use that much or cut it down to sell it once again for a profit, and so on and so forth until you get to street dealers dealing single, double, triple, etc. hits at a time (think dime bag quantities) to small time users and hit-to-hit junkies. What else might you need to know? I don’t know any websites, but I can certainly give you any info I have.

I actually was interested in websites about it since I saw American Gangster and was further interested in reading about the entire process (I also understand that what Denzel Washingtons character was doing in the movie was very unique to most drug suppliers, like flying to vietnam and cutting out the middleman etc).

I have also been watching the Wire. I just find the whole thing fascinating and still do not understand who is doing most of the growing, how it’s getting to the person who is doing the selling, to the people buying it wholesale, all the way to the small time dealers. I thought maybe Rolling Stone would have an article about it but they don’t, and my google skills are falling through on this one, so figured perhaps some of you on the site have read read an article at some point or another. Thanks anyway though.

Tits: My dad was in the Air Force during the Vietnam war.
And my sister remembers waking up in the middle of the night
and overhearing a conversation between him and my mother
about whether or not to take this offer to smuggle drugs.

My dad refused, but most of his crew buddies did not.
It’s amusing that my dad (who was always about doing the right thing)
ended up with the most fucked-up family and all of his other buddies
went on to have really well-to-do families, well-balanced families.

We’re still family friends with all of his air force squadron.
It’s really strange trying to imagine any of them smuggling drugs.

@advilicious: The Wire is good, and you should also check out some programs like Gangland and the likes on the History Channel, A&E, and the Discovery Channel. I have definitely found a lot through those programs (some of which are available to watch online as well).

@Nimis: Apparently, the whole drug trade during Vietnam was a lot more prevalent (and subsequently sustained) than the public is aware of. Kudos to your dad for not getting caught up in a (potentially) sticky situation, although I certainly see why those who did chose to. Lucrative stuff, it is.

I don’t think there will be too many good sources available on the web. Your best bet is going to your local library and asking the librarian there for some good books about it. But you can check out this article which has some rather interesting information about it. Oh and this site for some history.

advilicious, you can actually find out a lot by going to the DEA website shilolo linked, picking a drug, then clicking on “trafficking trends”. It does not focus as much on the middlemen, but there is ample information about where different drugs come from, and how they go through different stages of production and eventually reach their final destinations.

Cocaine is a chemical derived from the leaves of the coca plant. Coca is cultivated for this use by peasants in South American countries like Bolivia, Peru, and Columbia. The leaves are collected and made into powdered cocaine which is pressed into bricks. Drug gangs called cartels control the manufacture and distribution of drugs throughout the world. Cocaine that is designated for sale in the United States is often moved to staging areas. Cocaine is taken to Caribbean islands and then carried to southern Florida by boat. Also it is taken to Mexico and then snuck across the border. Once its in the states it most commonly shipped to distributors in major cities via automobiles. These vehicles are often equipped with hidden compartments. Criminal gangs generally take control of the drugs once they enter the country and are responsible for redistributing the drugs to mid level dealers. At this point the cocaine may be converted to crack cocaine by the addition of baking soda. The mid level dealers then sell there cocaine to street level dealers. These are the guys who most people talk to if they need drugs. They sell small recreational quantities.

Heroin is made from opium which is the sap of the opium poppy. It is grown in a wide variety of places but Afghanistan, Pakistan, Thailand and several other countries produce it. Peasant farmers generally grow poppies. They collect the sap and sell it to regional opium brokers. These brokers then process the opium into heroin. The heroin bound for the United States is often times shipped to Mexico then later is smuggled across the border into the United States the same way cocaine is. Once its in the states the same plan follows, wholesaler, distributor, street level dealers. Heroin is also commonly smuggled via mules or human suitcases. A person will swallow several condoms or balloons full of drugs and then catch a flight into the United States and wait until the balloons pass.

Commercial marijuana, sometimes called schwagg, mexi, or regular is smuggled and distributed much the same way. it is often concealed in freight like fruit in semi-trucks or in hidden compartments. Because of the smell drugs dogs can smell them. It is common practice for smuggles to wrap drugs in layers of cellophane, postal tape, kitchen vacuum sealers, then a layer of vaseline is covered over the whole package. Then another layer of wrapping is added. This keeps the smell inside the package. It gets shipped to distribution points then down the the street dealers.

Methamphetamine can be manufactured fairly easily with chemicals found in Wal Mart. Most meth used in the U.S. used to be made here. Because of the growing problem most states have made it hard to purchase enough of the ingredient ephedrine to make a suffcient batch. You have to sign and are limited to how much ephedrine you can buy. So now in Mexico a lot of “Super” meth labs have sprung up. It is being made there then transported to the states. It is distributed from there much like cocaine.

Some people use diverted pharmaceuticals. This is pills that were obtained without a prescription. People steal pills from their grandmas medicine cabinet, forge prescriptions, dishonest pharmacists sells pills off the books. These pills include valium, xanaz, percocets, adderall, oxycontin, vicodin