Drug Smugglers on Drug Smuggling: Lessons from the Inside

Study Design

Study Design There were two primary goals of this study.The first was to collect information on drug smuggler organizations, transportation methods, and smuggler roles as background to understanding how sample subjects perceived and managed the risks associated with smuggling drugs.The second was to explore points at which a smuggler may have been deterred from smuggling drugs into the United States. In an effort to build on previous work, the study was designed to collect information from a confined population with direct experience of smuggling drugs into the United States.To maximize the utility of this information, we utilized sample selection procedures that identified individuals rather than institutions, established an interview environment that promoted honesty, included a range of and especially high-level security institutions, used a translator when needed, and recorded and transcribed interviews . We interviewed prisoners in federal facilities because of the likelihood of finding more high-level smugglers in such facilities . Indeed, as Sevigny and Caulkins (2004) found, there are very few high-level smugglers (“kingpins”) in state facilities, and federal prisoners are more likely to be part of organized groups of smugglers, to smuggle larger quantities of illegal drugs, and to participate in higher-level roles. Developing the Questionnaire Interviews with persons convicted of trafficking drugs into the United States were used to examine the process of drug smuggling . As has been demonstrated, personal interviews with highlevel drug smugglers are important sources of information for learning about drug smuggling processes, especially the perception and management of risks. A questionnaire was designed to conduct a semi-structured, open-ended personal interview. The development of the quesOrganization of the Study b 21 tionnaire was based on a variety of sources of information. First, several interviews were conducted with U.S. Customs (USCS) agents who had worked undercover narcotics cases in the preceding twenty-four months.1 Second, the interviews were preceded by an extensive tour by the authors of U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Customs operations in Miami.2 Finally, the extant literature was reviewed, focusing on studies relying on personal interviews of inmates (Rockwell International, 1989; Reuter and Haaga, 1989;Wright and Decker, 1994). The final questionnaire (see Appendix 1) examined a variety of topics, including prior arrests and convictions; the specifics of the inmate’s first, most recent, and typical smuggling offenses; and perceptions of the risk associated with smuggling drugs into the United States. After reviewing methods employed by Rockwell International (1989) to measure deterrence, questions measuring the smuggler’s reaction to various levels of risk of apprehension, conviction, and sentence were simplified so that the smugglers would not have to make complicated calculations. As a semistructured interview, the wording, order, and follow-up questions were dependent on the inmate’s responses. The instrument was translated into Spanish, and a Spanish-speaking translator was used with inmates who were more comfortable discussing their smuggling activities in Spanish.All interviews were tape-recorded, subject to respondent agreement. Sample Selection Given the type of information we sought, we developed sample selection procedures to identify high-level drug smugglers. We were interested in individuals who trafficked large amounts of illicit drugs on a frequent basis; not one-time, low-level street dealers . We believed that these individuals would be more likely to have experience assessing the risks of transporting drugs into the United States.The specific steps in the sample selection process are summarized inTable 2.1. 22 b Chapter 2 Sample selection began with the identification of all individuals sentenced between 1992 and 1998 who were serving time for a violation of section 18 U.S.C. 2D1.1 of the U.S. Criminal Code.This section refers to unlawful manufacturing, importing, exporting, and trafficking of illegal drugs (including possession with the intent to commit these offenses and attempt or conspiracy ). The time frame was limited to offenders sentenced since 1992 because that was the first year the Bureau of Prisons began distinguishing between crack and powder cocaine. The 1992 guidelines also provided for the imposition of penalties for “conspiracy ” to import cocaine.3 The year 1998 was the cutoff because data from that year were the most recent available. The U.S. Sentencing Commission (USSC) provided data that included demographic 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. Four hundred fifteen cases met...