Drug Smugglers on Drug Smuggling: Lessons from the Inside

Appendix 2. Study Design

❖ Appendix 2 Study Design The instrument was designed to accomplish two goals.The first was to collect background information on the way smuggling operations are organized and on the specific roles in each type of operation (e.g., transporting the drugs by commercial vessel, private vessel, plane), as well as on individual experiences in the smuggling world (number of times a person was involved in smuggling drugs, his roles in the various offenses, his decision-making authority), to help interpret what is learned about balancing the risks associated with smuggling drugs. The second goal was to try to understand smugglers’ perceptions of risk and the level of risk that would deter them from continuing an operation. To achieve these goals, an instrument was designed to collect background information on the individual’s experience of smuggling drugs and descriptions of the individual’s first, typical, and last offense, focusing on his role in the offense and his role in relation to others in the operation. From this information, we were able to contextualize individual responses, and also to describe drug smuggling operations in the 1990s and the way they were organized to limit information flow and decision making and, therefore , reduce risk for the most powerful members of the group. The instrument was also designed to explore individual perceptions of the risks associated with smuggling, allowing us to compare these assessments with individual experiences and roles in smuggling operations. The instrument enabled us to quantify the level of risk that would have to be present to cause smugglers to modify their behavior. Building from Rockwell International’s (1989) methods of measuring deterrence, closed-ended questions using odds were used to identify the level at which the risks were not worth the rewards .The final instrument appears in Appendix 1. Sample Selection Access to data maintained by the U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) was critical to the sample selection process. The cooperation of the USSC allowed us to identify all persons sentenced between 1992 and 1998 and serving time for a violation of section 18 U.S.C. 2D1.1. This law refers to the unlawful manufacturing, importing, exporting, and trafficking of illegal drugs, including possession with the intent to commit these offenses and attempt or conspiracy.The USSC was asked to identify all cases in which the offender was convicted for one of the five primary charges.The time frame was limited to offenders sentenced since 1992 because our interest was primarily in smuggling activity in the 1990s and because 1992 was the first year the U.S. Sentencing Commission began distinguishing between crack and powder cocaine. Fiscal year 1998 was the cutoff because this was the latest information available from the USSC. The USSC provided a file that included demographic information and sentencing information for all offenders sentenced from 1992 through 1998 for drug trafficking as either the primary or one of the five most serious charges. Table A2.1 identifies some of the variables provided by the Sentencing Commission for the sample. Four hundred fifteen (415) cases sentenced for trafficking between 1992 and 1998 met our criteria.Table A2.2 provides characteristics of the sample. The majority of the sample included white (71 percent) males (92 percent) who described their ethnicity as Hispanic (55 percent). Of the non-U.S. citizens (55 percent), citizenship was spread across twenty-eight countries, with the highest concentration in Columbia (17 percent), Cuba (9 percent), Jamaica (6 percent), and Mexico (4 percent). The sample is dispersed across the seven sentencing years, with slightly higher proportions sentenced in 1992 and 1993. Half the sample was sentenced in districts in Florida and another 13 percent in NewYork, and almost all were convicted for trafficking cocaine (90 percent).The sample varied on a number of different sentencing characteristics. For example, 61 percent of the sample received an offense level of 38 or greater (38 is the base offense level for trafficking 150 kilograms or more of cocaine), and 60 percent received no departure status, which means that they did not provide assistance during the investigation. Only 31 percent provided substantial assistance to the government, although 61 percent received reductions from their base offense levels for accepting responsibility. 182 b Appendix 2 Study Design b 183 The presentence information was reviewed to identify high-level drug smugglers. Based on the literature, our interviews with undercover agents, and interviews with U.S. customs officials, variables we...