The illegal trade in drugs has become the principal activity of international organised crime syndicates. Trafficking in narcotics requires bribes and political contributions to politicians who need to be paid to turn a blind eye to illegal behaviour on a mass scale.
In the late 1980s, Interpol reported that about one-third of its cases related in some way to drugs-related corruption of public officials.
Drug trafficking has few international boundaries. However, it especially affects some Latin American countries where drugs are produced. The problem is illustrated by a study of Colombia, home of the Medellin and Cali drugs cartels. Eduardo Posada - Carb reports:
'On June 21, 1994, just a few hours after the electoral celebrations ended, ... the [Colombian] public learned of the existence of some tapes, dubbed the narco-cassettes, whose contents suggested that money from drug-trafficking had financed the presidential election campaign. Police raids a week or so later yielded documentary evidence linking the Cali drug cartel with a significant number of politicians.
' ... the scandal has led to penal action against prominent figures on an unprecedented scale in Colombia. Fernando Botero, the director of Ernesto Samper's presidential election campaign and, until August 1995, his minister of defence, is now serving a jail sentence. The treasurer and administrator of the campaign are also behind bars. About 20 members of Congress ... are currently under investigation, some are under arrest. The procurador general (attorney-general) was removed from his post and is now in prison ... '
Colombian elections are financed also by contributions from business enterprises such as the Grupo Santo Domingo. This is justified by Senator Jaime Arias, leader of the Partido Conservador on the ground that '[w]ere it not for the contributions of big companies, there would be more money from the Mafiosi'.
'This fear of campaign financing by the drug cartels is hardly surprising ... the dramatic rise of homicide rates since the late 1970s suggests a close connection between drug-trafficking and violence ... The assassination in 1989 of Luis Carlos Galán, the front-runner for the presidential election stunned the country... The extent to which money from the drug trade has gone into electioneering cannot be determined with any degree of accuracy... A commission set up to look into this issue after the electoral campaign of 1982 acknowledged that: 'Some people without any political background were getting access to parliamentary seats through deals in which drug money was a factor.' ...
'[In the 1994 presidential election] alleged sums entering the campaign from the drug cartels - estimates range from $3 million by the Fiscalia to $6 million by some journalists - were unprecedented. Moreover, it is not known how much drug money goes into the campaigns of congressmen and other elected officials.' 48.
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