Golden Crescent
I searched the Internet search engines with the key words "Golden Crescent"
and was rewarded with a list of "golden crescents" such as the Texas and Florida coastal areas. Sorry folks, that isn't the "Golden Crescent". It is not a coincidence that an area on the globe that is comprised of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran
is known in narcotics enforcement circles as "The Golden Crescent". Since the 1980s, heroin
has again emerged as the drug of choice among global purveyors of narcotics.
It is ironic that two drugs that are produced from opium
have such differing goals. Morphine is a blessing for mankind. Morphine is the main active component of opium, constituting approximately 10%. Morphine
brings relief from pain to victims of injuries and disease. Those fields filled with poppy plants are a blessing to us all. The peace that morphine
brings to those suffering from horrible diseases such as cancer can never be underestimated. We all stand to benefit from this wonderful drug.
Heroin
is obtained from morphine by a chemical process known as acetylation. The precursors of heroin
are acetic anhydride and acetyl chloride. Heroin is one of the most addictive of all abused substances.
To read about the end result of heroin addiction, read the story "The Lepers" published on NY Cop Online Magazine, www.nycop.com
Afghanistan
produces the majority of the global supply of illicit opium producing poppy plants. It is no coincidence that Osama Bin Laden
has chosen Afghanistan as his base of operations.
The global drug traffickers depend on the poppy fields of that nation. Whoever controls the poppy fields has economic power. Bin Laden knows this very
well. What better way to destroy the hated Americans than to keep them supplied with heroin and profit at the same time? The Great Satan and his allies will provide the very means of their own
destruction. The flow of dollars though money laundering is made possible by the ancient "hawala" money system and other schemes to launder the cash that
is generated by trafficking in drugs.
The word "hawala"
means "in trust" in Hindi. This money-transfer system is used primarily by individuals to transfer cash, locally or overseas, to people who do not have access to a bank.
It doesn't take a great imagination to realize that just as the "Black Market Peso Exchange"
is used in the Western Hemisphere to launder drug money, a similar system can be put into place the Golden Crescent area. To read about the "Black Market Peso Exchange" system of money laundering, go to:
http://www.nycop.com/Stories/May_01/How_Goes_the_War_on_Drugs/how_goes_the_ war_on_drugs.html
One of the finest web sites for education about the process of money laundering, go to:
http://www.moneylaundering.com
Is there a connection between drug trafficking and terrorism? Narco-terrorism is a fact of life and Osama Bin Laden, for the moment, is the
personification of that threat to us all.
The trafficking of drugs by terrorists keeps them supplied with the weapons and the money needed to continue their attacks. Yet, in the war against terror, the subject of drug trafficking is rarely brought up.
The key to defeating the drug cartels and the terrorist cells is cutting off the financial support that they have created throughout the global financial community. We must focus on the international
money laundering schemes that are continually being created to hide the proceeds of drug trafficking. The world community can no longer tolerate secret bank accounts and concealment of financial transactions.
The privacy that financial institutions demand for their wealthy customers is a luxury that the world can no longer afford to grant to privileged individuals or institutions.
When we bring some misguided white-collared "captains of industry" to justice for their collusion with the black marketing, drug dealing scumbags of this
world, we will begin to get a handle on the global drug trafficking industry. There is a saying in the street: "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime." I can assure you, that those who
have risen to high positions in the financial institutions of this world do not have the fortitude required to do time in our correctional institutions.
When their personal assets are at risk, the real possibility of serving time will be an awesome deterrent to the laundering of the proceeds of the drug lords.
It would be an ironic turn of events if
the war on terrorism results in a major defeat for terrorism as well as a defeat for the drug traffickers.
Copyright © 2001 Edward D. Reuss
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