World Disasters Report 2010 - International Federation of Red Cross ...

Drug production and trafficking
South America produces about 900 tonnes of cocaine a year, mostly for sale to the
United States and Europe. Drug trafficking organizations have openly challenged governments
in a number of countries including Colombia, Mexico and Jamaica through
conflict and intimidation and the use of advanced military tactics and military-grade
weapons. Violence is mostly associated with the transit, rather than the consumption,
of illicit drugs – to the US through Central America and the Caribbean and to Europe
through West Africa. Mexico’s drug cartels reportedly command more than 100,000
foot soldiers, putting them on a par with the Mexican armed forces which command
130,000 troops. The cartels are said to earn up to US$ 40 billion from the drug trade,
a figure which exceeds the gross domestic product (GDP) of many low-income countries.
The US Department of State recently reported that entire regions of Guatemala
are now essentially under the control of drug trafficking organizations, the most visible
of which is the Mexican group known as the Zetas.
When governments react with force the violence can spiral out of control. One United
States travel advisory warned US citizens about the levels of violence in Mexico, describing
the shoot-outs between Mexican security forces and the drug cartel gunmen as similar to
“small-unit combat”. Indeed, the global intelligence company Strategic Forecasting, Inc., or
STRATFOR, reports that Mexico’s armed forces have now been deployed in nearly every
state in the country. Increasingly they are charged with maintaining general public safety.
Firearms
Firearms increase the lethality of violence. According to the Small Arms Survey, civilians
own about 650 million firearms worldwide (three-quarters of the known total)
and gun violence kills at least 200,000 people each year in countries at peace.
The illegal trade in small arms is believed to be worth at least US$ 1 billion per year.
Many small arms remain in urban areas following a conflict, while others trickle over
borders from countries currently or formerly at war. South Africa gets guns from
Mozambique and Angola, and Nairobi receives weapons from Somalia and Uganda.
In Brazil, where more than 100 people die from firearm violence every day, gangs have
been seen with arms either pilfered or sold from military arsenals. In the favelas of Rio
de Janeiro, youths carry assault rifles, machine guns and submachine guns.
The ‘guns for ganja’ trade – where undocumented handguns from Haiti are exchanged
for marijuana from Jamaica – is seen as a major factor contributing to the record levels
of murder and violent crime in Jamaica. According to the US State Department’s 2010
International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, around 70 per cent of the illegal firearms
entering Jamaica originate in the United States. Mexico is another major recipient of
guns from the US. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives estimates
that Mexican drug trafficking organizations acquire thousands of weapons each year in
Arizona, California and Texas and smuggle them across the border to Mexico.
World Disasters Report 2010 – Focus on urban risk
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