The
Function of the Drug War
by J. Orlin Grabbe
The function of the Drug War is to
create the Drug Crisis. The Drug Crisis
involves billions of dollars of hidden
cash flow. Addicted to this flow of
money are law enforcement agencies, drug
producers and distributors, covert
agencies who use it as a source of black
funding, and politicians and bankers who
are hired to protect the drug revenues.
Addiction to drug revenues requires that
the drug war be fought so as to be lost.
Failure thus becomes the criterion of
success.
Many state agencies, and federal
agencies such as US Customs, the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the
Department of Justice, and the U.S.
Treasury, reward themselves for fighting
the Drug War by claiming a portion of
the loot seized—helping themselves to
cash, bank deposits, securities, boats,
automobiles, houses, land, on-going
businesses, as well as the
readily-marketable drugs themselves. The
Drug Warriors' financial focus ("follow
the money") requires them to devote
their energy in the direction it will be
most rewarded—to look for juicy targets
flush with success. Such juicy targets
consist of those who have created
flourishing drug enterprises in the
midst of the Drug War. These successful
drug enterprises make up the necessary
list of worthwhile targets leading to
successful busts. Big drug busts
involving heretofore lucrative drug
businesses are announced in a blaze of
publicity—emphasizing the amount of
money and drugs seized, and people
arrested. Only the failure of the Drug
War and the continuing success of drug
enterprises can sustain the continuing
stream of assets ripe for seizure
(off-budget funding) and the beneficial
media publicity, such as lurid TV
footage of stacks of plastic-wrapped
money and cocaine. Thus the failure of
the Drug War becomes the measure of the
Drug Warriors' success, and the
ineffectiveness of the Drug Warriors
becomes the continuing justification for
their existence. The Drug Warriors are
ever justified by the continuing Drug
Crisis and the richness of the Drug
Warriors' targets. Hence the Drug
Warriors must fight the Drug War ever
harder in order to ensure that it will
be successfully lost.
Producers and distributors of illegal
drugs require the Drug War in order to
eliminate competition and maintain
profit margins. Without the Drug War, a
slew of small farmers would take over
the growth of marijuana crops and would
eventually drive pot prices down to the
marginal cost of production. The giant
methamphetamine kitchens in Mexico
require the Drug-War-inspired monitoring
of chemicals to prevent competition from
the once pervasive amateur labs in
American homes. Cocaine producers and
distributors require enforcer watchdogs
such as the Drug Enforcement
Administration to keep out new lower-
cost entrants to the market. General
Manuel Noriega received an award from
the DEA for his cooperation in the Drug
War. Noriega served the Medellin cartel
and kept out Cali competitors by turning
them in to the DEA. The DEA was happy,
Noriega was happy, and the Medellin
cartel was happy. By cooperatively
fighting the Drug War, the Drug Warriors
and Drug Suppliers ensured the
continuing flow of money and drugs
through Panama. But whenever competition
increases, the Drug War must be fought
ever more vigilantly to ensure the
continuing success of its failure. Only
if competition is controlled can the
market price of illicit drugs be kept
well above their marginal cost of
production, thus ensuring the massive
profits upon which Drug Suppliers and
Drug Warriors depend.
Covert agencies are increasingly tasked
with supplying intelligence on the
illegal drug trade, such as in the US
where drugs have been designated a
national security problem. The best
vantage point from which to gather
intelligence on the illegal drug market
is to be in the illegal drug business.
Thus covert agencies must deal drugs in
order to assist the War on Drugs.
Moreover, being covert requires covert
monies for financing, and the most
obvious source of "black market" funding
is drug money. Drug money is obtained by
supplying services to the drug trade.
Here in Costa Rica the CIA provides air
transport to "the brothers" who run a
lucrative trade in illicit substances.
In other locations other agencies are
similarly involved. The NSA, through the
NPO (National Programs Office), provided
secure storage for cocaine in its
network of secure warehouses across the
US. In another country, the DIA operates
a drug manufacturing facility. Similar
statements can be made about the
British, French, and Israeli
intelligence services. The Drug War
provides black market funding for the
covert agencies, and justifies the need
for them to provide intelligence to
fight the Drug War. The Drug War must be
fought harder to ensure the requisite
funds and intelligence to fight the Drug
War.
The Drug War provides a political
rationale for the continuing production
and sale of military equipment and
consulting services in the absence of
obvious enemies. Just recently the US
sold Guatemala a sophisticated
electronic fence to protect its border.
Similar sales have been made to other
countries. References to drug
traffickers and smugglers form as much a
part of the political justification for
these expenditures as do references to
the threat of invasion. In the case of
Guatemala, what the US did not tell the
local military was that it is now a
matter of US national security policy to
only install fences with holes in them.
The electronic holes are intended to
ensure that US bombers can reach their
destinations unimpeded by surveillance.
When someone informed the Guatemalan
military of this fact, they angrily
demanded of the US to know if this were
true. Yes, there are holes, the US
admitted; but the US also claimed that
no one would be able to find them,
because of the ultra-sophisticated top
secret technology involved. It was a
lie. A consultant showed the Guatemalans
the location of the holes using only a
few hundred dollars of off-the-shelf
electronic equipment. There were 12
holes, each roughly a quarter mile wide,
providing an air corridor open from the
ground to the heavens. The location of
such holes is usually sold to drug
couriers in a matter of a few weeks.
Thus the drugs continue to flow through
the fences unimpeded, helpfully keeping
alive the original rationale for
military involvement in the Drug War.
(In the case of Guatemala, the same
drugs might show up at the Guatemalan
airport, where security is provided by
Wackenhut. Wackenhut is a private
security firm supplying security
services to top- secret US military and
nuclear facilities. In some of these
facilities, computer hard drives
containing nuclear secrets may appear
and disappear behind copying machines
much like drug planes may appear and
disappear on either side of electronic
fences with well- designed security
holes.)
Drug propaganda supplies an essential
ingredient in the Drug War. We see an
endless parade of TV shows in which
photogenic actors and actresses protect
the young and innocent from the big bad
drug dealers, along with just-say-no
campaigns of mindless emotionalism. A
cigarette looks silly in your ear; it
looks sillier in your mouth. Don't
think, just be embarrassed and believe.
Here are pictures of crack babies;
aren't they revolting? The cooperation
of the news media in government
propaganda creates a pervasive
background of Pavlovian conditioning
which can be stirred up to a hysterical
boil whenever the Drug War is
threatened, or when it needs to be
reinvigorated. The public will then
"demand something be done", and the
hired politicians will smoothly respond
with the needed legislation.
Take George W. Bush and Al Gore, for
example. Whichever man is elected, he
will call for a new effort to sustain
the Drug War's vigor, whether it be
called "Reinventing the Drug War" or the
"Drug War with Compassion", or something
entirely different. Because, like other
hired politicians, the new President
will know the Drug War must be fought
harder to keep the money and drugs
flowing, and everyone happy. Only in
failure will there be success.
-----------------------------------------
J. Orlin Grabbe is the author of
International Financial Markets and
resides in Costa Rica.
From The
Laissez Faire City Times, Vol.
4, No 37, September 11, 2000
