Drug Trafficking in Colorado
Drugs are a big problem for many states across the United States. Colorado is no exception to this ongoing problem that cannot be alleviated. Colorado is having issues surrounding the trafficking of heroin and opioids into the State. In Colorado, more people have died from overdosing than homicide which is a problem (Ingold, 2015). Overdosing is growing everyday as new drugs get smuggled into the state. The narcotics can not only ruin lives but also destroy families and those involved. At this point, people cannot just look the other way towards this problem that needs to be fixed. There are certain parts of Greeley, CO where someone cannot go because there are unpredictable drug addicts roaming the streets, especially at night.
Drug Trafficking needs to end in Colorado to make the wonderful state a safer place.
Recently one of the biggest drug trafficking rings was busted in southern Colorado where there were millions of dollars in drugs discovered along with weapons and cash by the FBI (Denver OCEDETF Strike Force Takes Down Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization Responsible for Distributing Large Quantities of Cocaine and Methamphetamine). People of Colorado cannot allow big drugs rings and large amounts of narcotics to be present which makes the state look bad. According to the OCEDETF Strike force and the department of justice, the drugs are being smuggled in from Mexico to California where the drugs are eventually transferred into Colorado. There should not be any smuggling into the state especially when the smuggling is coming from another state in the country. This problem needs to be addressed because whatever the state is doing now is not effective enough to stop people from smuggling drugs from other states into Colorado. To alleviate drug trafficking in Colorado, law enforcement must implement stronger border security that can stop and or scare away potential drug traffickers.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, OCEDETF, works to find drug trafficking inside the state. The task force does not completely neutralize the problem because the OCEDETF does not really do anything to stop the drugs from coming over the borders of Colorado. The OCEDETF seeks out drug trafficking that is happening in state, where the narcotics are being moved around the state for use. The task force had done a great job of catching drug rings that have already had success in dealing the trafficked drugs. As of recently, the task force had busted a drug trafficking group in my hometown of Pueblo (Pueblo Police Department and Southern Colorado Safe Streets Task Force Announce the Arrest of Five Individuals and the Seizure of Historic Amounts of Heroin in Southern Colorado). The task force discovered twenty-eight kilograms of heroin and two, half pounds of methamphetamine, fifty grams of cocaine, and other illegal items which created one of the biggest drug busts in Colorado history; the narcotics alone totaled to about eight million dollars and could have provided over forty thousand users with drugs (Pueblo Police Department and Southern Colorado Safe Streets Task Force Announce the Arrest of Five Individuals and the Seizure of Historic Amounts of Heroin in Southern Colorado.). While the task force was successful, there is still a problem at hand. The problem is how that number of drugs is getting created and smuggled into Colorado? Rather than finding the drug ring when the distribution is already started, someone needs to take efforts to stop the drugs from being smuggled into the State. The OCEDETF does their job right, but there is more to be done for more safety of citizens by means of having more security of the borders.
Another way Colorado has come up with a solution to stop drug trafficking is the legalization of marijuana. I believe this solution is not a direct fix for drug trafficking, but hypothetically can reduce the number of illegal drugs coming into Colorado. In theory, the legalization of marijuana would stop drugs from being smuggled into the state by people having the option to grow their own marijuana. Since drug traffickers cannot compete with “in-state†growth of hemp, they are forced to use other drugs to sell in Colorado (Powers). The increase in other drugs make sense since narcotics create more profit, like heroin and cocaine, than marijuana. Drug traffickers are starting to also sell the drugs through the black market to avoid taxes among other risks. This usually means the drugs are being grown in the country which can cause more problems. While the legalization of marijuana has created millions of dollars in profit for Colorado, the cons definitely outweigh the pros because of the number of illegal drugs in the state.
A solution that could help reduce the problem of drug trafficking is law enforcement implementing a type of toll booth system at the borders of the state. Law enforcement could train officers to be able catch possible drug traffickers coming over the border of Colorado. The best group of law enforcement officers would be State Patrolman because this group is on the road all of the time. The toll booths can also stop others from coming into the state like illegal immigrants. Law enforcement would have to come up with some kind of price for people to pay to get over the border or maybe a special pass for citizens of Colorado. The tollbooths could potentially pay for themselves when people pay to get through them or maybe use some of the marijuana profit to pay for them. San Francisco has tollbooth system that has all people pay to cross which would be similar to the system Colorado would have to implement. The state could also create a toll booth like the one on the border between the United States and Mexico. The biggest differences would that the employees would be law enforcement officers and the introduction of a check station for those who seem suspicious, like the toll booth at the border of Mexico.
Another solution Law enforcement could use to reduce drug trafficking into Colorado is random traffic stops around the borders. This could be much cheaper and simpler to implement. State patrol could be the employees to perform the traffic stop because they have experience on the road and are good at dealing with criminals. This would be effective because the stops would be unpredictable and there is no way of avoiding them without becoming extremely suspicious. One of the only problems could be the slowing of traffic for people trying to get places. Another problem would be to hire more state patrol to handle some of the extra duties assigned. The average officer makes anywhere from a starting pay of forty-two thousand dollars to around ninety thousand dollars plus benefits and equipment like vehicles. This could slow down regular traffic, but Colorado already has terrible traffic problems.
The objections to the possible solutions of solving the drug trafficking problem can put everything at a halt. These solutions can cause possible tax increases for citizens which does not seem like a good idea for financial reasons. Most people cannot afford more taxes, as I grew up around people of this group and understand this objection. Besides the tax problem, some people might not be aware of the drug trafficking problem because of where they live. In Windsor Colorado, no one talks about drug trafficking because trafficking drugs does not really happen there, but in places like Pueblo or Trinidad drugs rings are a big problem right now. People are going to be up in arms about the problem. People will not accept a solution that they are not truly aware of.
While the possible objections are logical, the solutions are worth the money and understanding of drug trafficking for more safety in Colorado. In reality, a toll booth system at our borders would cause a tax increase. There would be other options in paying for this solution by using all the tax money from marijuana as said above. On another note, the toll booth system would create jobs for Colorado. The other solution of introducing random traffic stops by the borders of Colorado would probably be easier to put into effect by adding to the daily activities of state patrol. These solutions would also create awareness for those who would not know about the drug trafficking problems by making them wonder why law enforcement would have more secure borders around Colorado. The possible objections to the drug trafficking problem can be somewhat controlled by an active community.
Law enforcement needs better border security in Colorado to reduce the rate of drug trafficking. While there have been steps taken to control drug rings within the state, there is no steps taken to decrease drugs from crossing the border. The drugs are not just coming from other countries, but the drugs are coming from other states and Colorado is directly affected by the flow of drugs in the United States. Narcotic distribution and use will continue to rise if there is nothing done about the number of drugs coming from other states. Law enforcement needs to control this flow of drugs into the state as they are most equipped to do the job. Law enforcement clearly has the resources and possibly the money to reduce the number of drugs coming into Colorado.
Works Citied
Ingold, John. “Colorado’s opioid and heroin overdose deaths outnumbered homicides in 2015.â€Â The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 31 Oct. 2017.
Denver OCEDETF Strike Force Takes Down Mexican Drug Trafficking Organization Responsible for Distributing Large Quantities of Cocaine and Methamphetamine. Washington: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc, 2017. ProQuest.
Pueblo Police Department and Southern Colorado Safe Streets Task Force Announce the Arrest of Five Individuals and the Seizure of Historic Amounts of Heroin in Southern Colorado. Washington: Federal Information & News Dispatch, Inc, 2017. ProQuest. Web. 30 Nov. 2017.
Powers, Joe. “Legalizing Marijuana Has Affected Drug Cartels.â€Â Colorado Cannabis Tours and 420 Hotels, 16 Mar. 2017, coloradocannabistours.com