[The Guardian] UNODC - Trafficking Knows No Borders: Can Global Cooperation Keep Up?

By its nature, fighting illicit drug and weapons trafficking requires a lot of global cooperation. After all, if one country takes measures to prevent trafficking, while others don’t, bad actors will simply shift operations - creating new hubs elsewhere. 

This cooperation needs a special focus on the Global North and South dynamics. While issues often manifest the most in the North, production and supply comes from the South. This creates power dynamics in which both sides have demands and offers. However, not everyone in the global north is equally willing to sacrifice, especially in the financial aspect.

Brazil is one of the biggest actors in the field of weapons and drugs trafficking. An enormous South American nation, as the size of Europe, and which faces many issues with criminal activity in low-income zones. Very attractive to drug producers, the size and density of its Amazon forests enables them to hide their operations efficiently. The complexity of the issue means a lot of resources are required, resources that Brazil doesn’t have. 

While the delegate of Brazil does recognize the sovereign ability of nations in the Global North to do as they please with their resources, she stresses the need for investments and aid at a United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) meeting this afternoon. 

“Colonialism caused the issues and [neo]colonialism continues to cause it”, laments the Brazilian representative. The nation needs better education and more jobs in order to combat the lack of opportunity plaguing many regions and neighbourhoods, requiring a lot of funding. Brazil is committed to transparency in the usage of funds, and acknowledges the global skepticism on knowing “where the money will actually go”. However, it must be understood that the issues of Brazil and Latin America as a whole are more ingrained than Western states might know. 

Among these skeptics, the strongest concerns about the illicit use of financial funding come from the U.S. “Simply throwing money at the problem will not solve it.”, stressed the U.S. delegation during the UNODC meeting. In a follow-up interview this delegate disclosed to the Guardian that if funding was to be given too freely to countries like Mexico, “they’ll just build more drug routes.” While not opposed to providing financial backing for trafficking prevention frameworks, the delegation of the U.S. demands more commitment from receiving countries to implement the money constructively and transparently. 

On the other side of the globe, Myanmar’s delegate feels that her state’s concerns go unheard. The golden triangle drug trade is one of the largest in the world, and has far-reaching consequences. Drugs from Myanmar end up in Australia, the U.S., and the EU. It needs stronger border control, currently hard to check due to terrain and lack of funds. As in Brazil, education is a priority as well as job creation. When confronted with the fact that many government officials are involved in the drug trade themselves, the delegate recognized the issue but said they were “doing their best”. There is a willingness to reduce reliance on drug trade, as long as this is compensated by foreign aid.

To obtain an international framework for combating drug and weapon trafficking, clear support must be provided for countries like Myanmar. With the U.S. willing less and less to open its wallet, these states may search for alternative solutions. 

In a surprising turn, Saudi Arabia may be their saving grace, as it “would be open to finance” according to the Saudi UNODC representative. However, their aid comes at a price. Saudi Arabia conditions its support on the UNODC to support a more lenient Arms Trade Treaty, allowing Saudi to bolster their arms. “We need weapons and we are trying to stop drugs”. While an unrealistic trade-off, the openness of Saudi Arabia to finance suggests there may be hope in the ability for the Global South to implement international trafficking prevention without the help of the U.S.