This week’s forum examines the numerous challenges of combatting the narcotics threat. From it, you will understand the difficulty in carrying out operations against drug traffickers. Respond to the following question: Compare the intelligence function and effectiveness of the U.S. counter-narcotics agencies with that of the narcotics traffickers. I look forward to your thoughts! Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 250 words. Lesson Challenges to Combating Drug Trafficking U.S. counter-narcotics efforts have had great successes thanks to effective policies and laws, efficient agency resources and capabilities, increasing cooperation among agencies and countries, and evolving intelligence collection and analysis methods and proficiency. However, these efforts are impeded by the determination of drug traffickers to continue and expand their operations. Impediments A primary impediment to successful counter-narcotics efforts is economics. Drug trafficking is profitable – very profitable. Drug traffickers from international DTOs to retail distributors on the street will do what they need to continue operations. When law enforcement finds a successful method of combating traffickers, the DTOs just change their operations (new route or smuggling method, use different chemicals to produce a drug such as meth, change communication methods). · Consider how much money DTOs must be making that one of their business practices is to burn planes and sink boats and semi-submersibles after they have delivered their drugs. What legitimate business can endure such a large expense? · DTOs have the resources to engage in counter intelligence on law enforcement activities, which increases the threat to law enforcement as well as facilitates their illicit activity.  · There is persistent high demand for the product. The U.S. demand for illicit drugs remains strong. As long as there are customers to buy the product, the DTOs will find a way to deliver it. This is why a major component of the National Drug Control Strategy addresses demand issues. DTos have considerable influence in their communities that often enables them to carry out their illicit activities with little obstruction from citizens and often law enforcement. · Corruption of law enforcement and governmental organizations, particularly in source and transit countries, is a significant problem. DTOs can afford to pay large sums of money ensure cooperation from law enforcement. Moreover, the amount they pay is significantly greater than what an official’s salary. Further, DTOs often threated officials with violence against them and their family, with makes if more difficult to turn down.  · A somewhat unstable world economy, including high-levels of unemployment in many source countries, provides DTOs with a particularly fertile environment from which to recruit individuals willing to take the risks associated with producing and transporting illicit drugs. Further, many indivi ...

1. This week’s forum examines the numerous challenges of
combatting the narcotics threat. From it, you will understand the
difficulty in carrying out operations against drug traffickers.
Respond to the following question:
Compare the intelligence function and effectiveness of the U.S.
counter-narcotics agencies with that of the narcotics traffickers.
I look forward to your thoughts!
Instructions: Your initial post should be at least 250 words.
Lesson
Challenges to Combating Drug Trafficking
U.S. counter-narcotics efforts have had great successes thanks
to effective policies and laws, efficient agency resources and
capabilities, increasing cooperation among agencies and
countries, and evolving intelligence collection and analysis
methods and proficiency. However, these efforts are impeded by
the determination of drug traffickers to continue and expand
their operations.
Impediments
A primary impediment to successful counter-narcotics efforts is
economics. Drug trafficking is profitable – very profitable.
Drug traffickers from international DTOs to retail distributors
on the street will do what they need to continue operations.
When law enforcement finds a successful method of combating
traffickers, the DTOs just change their operations (new route or
smuggling method, use different chemicals to produce a drug
such as meth, change communication methods).
· Consider how much money DTOs must be making that one of
their business practices is to burn planes and sink boats and

2. semi-submersibles after they have delivered their drugs. What
legitimate business can endure such a large expense?
· DTOs have the resources to engage in counter intelligence on
law enforcement activities, which increases the threat to law
enforcement as well as facilitates their illicit activity.
· There is persistent high demand for the product. The U.S.
demand for illicit drugs remains strong. As long as there are
customers to buy the product, the DTOs will find a way to
deliver it. This is why a major component of the National Drug
Control Strategy addresses demand issues.
DTos have considerable influence in their communities that
often enables them to carry out their illicit activities with little
obstruction from citizens and often law enforcement.
· Corruption of law enforcement and governmental
organizations, particularly in source and transit countries, is a
significant problem. DTOs can afford to pay large sums of
money ensure cooperation from law enforcement. Moreover, the
amount they pay is significantly greater than what an official’s
salary. Further, DTOs often threated officials with violence
against them and their family, with makes if more difficult to
turn down.
· A somewhat unstable world economy, including high-levels of
unemployment in many source countries, provides DTOs with a
particularly fertile environment from which to recruit
individuals willing to take the risks associated with producing
and transporting illicit drugs. Further, many individuals in these
areas have no other economic alternative to making a
sustainable living.
DTOs frequently change their methods of operation to avoid
counter-narcotics efforts. This in turn forces law enforcement
to continually change their operational methods, stretching the
time and monetary resources available.

3. · DTOs change the smuggling methods to avoid detection and
interdiction. When counter-narcotics efforts uncover a method
being used, DTOs will change that method. For instance,
traffickers increasingly shotgun loads of illicit drugs across the
Southwest Border in several vehicles rather than in one large
load on a truck. Interdiction of one of the vehicles results in the
loss of only part of the shipment.
· DTOs continually look for new technologies to be able to
communicate to avoid law enforcement detection. For instance,
DTOs increasingly are using Internet-based communication
technologies that often make it extraordinarily difficult to
effectively employ lawful intercept (SIGINT) collection
methods.
· Leadership within DTOs increasingly is becoming
decentralized—meaning each component is handled by a
separate group of people—making them more resilient, robust,
and difficult to dismantle. For instance, the person in charge
transporting drugs on a boat has knowledge of only that part of
the trafficking. This prevents law enforcement from gaining a
significant amount of information from any one person.
Several challenges exist within and among the agencies engaged
in counter-narcotics efforts.
· Although cooperation is improving, there are still significant
amounts of bureaucratic red tape that impedes efficient
operations. For instance, agencies sometimes have competing
goals or missions. Additionally, agency protocol for sensitive
issues such as protecting methods and sources and evidence
chain of custody can vary and create difficulties.
· The United States has limited resources available for counter-
narcotics efforts. The programs and methods of operations must
continually be evaluated to determine their effectiveness and
the best use of resources. Comparatively, DTO have significant

4. resources to put up against law enforcement resources.
Outlook
Looking back at our first week lesson, we re-consider the threat
of drug trafficking to national security. The threat has many
components—the violence of DTOs, the health of users, the
dangers of production, the economic consequences, the current
and potential links to other crimes, the safety of communities.
Globally, drug trafficking threatens the legitimacy of the
financial system, impedes progress in developing countries, and
facilities transnational criminal activity. According to the
United Nations, “marked growth in the number of illicit drug
users can be expected in the developing countries. This suggests
that a relative shift of the burden of the global drug problem
from the developed countries to the currently developing
countries will continue over the coming decades” (UN WDR
98). This will further stress resources of not only these
countries but also the main players in the international counter-
narcotics efforts such as the United States.
Drug trafficking is a threat that is difficult if not impossible to
mitigate completely. DTOs resources and influence enable them
to continually improve trafficking operations and thus, to
continually challenge counter-narcotics agencies. As such,
counter-narcotics agencies will continue to use intelligence
methods and operations to lesson this risk.
References:
Executive Office of the President of the United States, National
Drug Control Strategy. Washington, DC, 2013.
United Nation Office of Drugs and Crime, World Drug Report
2012. Vienna, Austria, 2012.

5. Writing Assignment #1: Autobiographical Essay
Writing assignment #1 will be an essay in which you describe
an event or person you have
encountered in your past work experiences or experiences in
your community. This essay is
informed in part by an article from Mark Gellis,
“Autobiographical Writing in the Technical
Writing Class.” That article is in the ereserves section of this
class.
A Brief Introduction to the Strategies for this Essay:
In his essay, “Autobiographical Writing in the Technical
Writing Class,” Gillis writes that “An
essay…is written not only to explain, but often to record and
reveal the author’s personal
interaction with the subject” (p. 326). You will accomplish
these steps in your essay. You will
record and reveal your interaction with the topic about which
you are writing.
Gellis notes on page 327 that writing a story or narrative of
one’s past can help one’s
professional growth. A goal of this essay is to help you
understand your goals in pursuing
the degree you are pursuing at UMUC by describing and
analyzing a work or community
experience you have had in the past. Examples of previous
students who have written this type
of analysis are given below.

6. Overall, if you read the following article by Gellis in our
ereserves section of the class, you will
have a good understanding of how to approach this assignment.
The article is “Autobiographical
Writing in the Technical Writing Course.”
Organization:
In this essay, you will have the following:
• an introductory paragraph with a thesis statement
• body paragraphs that support the thesis statement
• a concluding paragraph
In addition, the paper should be formatted according to APA
style in accordance with the
video tutorial you observed in class, How to format your paper
according to APA style.
• Use one-inch margins.
• Double space.
• Use size 12 Times New Roman font.
• Include a running head.
• Include page numbers.
• Include a title page.
• An abstract is not required.
Note that Gellis cautions on pages 329-330 that students have
the tendency to “go broad but not
deep” in this type of essay. With this caution in mind, please
analyze your topic with a sense of
depth, not covering too many years or too many incidents.

7. Covering too many years or incidents
can result in a fairly shallow or broad coverage of your topic.
Some possible topics on the essay include the following:
• A situation you encountered at work or in your community
that involved a failure
• A situation you encountered at work or in your community
that involved an important
victory
• A person (a supervisor or co-worker) who has contributed to
your growth as a
professional
• A person or event that represented a negative example of
professionalism
• Your first day or week on a particular job and what you
learned from that first day or
week
• A situation in which you had to make an ethical choice at
work or in your community
Please observe the following examples from Gellis’s article:
• Ellen (328-329) described the work environment at her first
job, and she expounds on
what she learned from having been exposed to this work
environment.
• Steve (page 329) elaborated on how his co-op job changed his
views of professionalism.
• Dave (page 330) wrote about how his mentor influenced him
during his work experience.

8. • Mike (page 330) wrote about the complexities concerning
union employees and
management during a company strike and what he learned from
the experience.
• Frank (page 331) wrote about a nonwork experience in Haiti,
incorporating dialogue into
his description
• Richard (page 331) noted his experience in diagnosing a
problem related to radiator cores
at his job. The methods he went through in testing the testing
process are quite
humorous.
Also note Gellis’s observation on page 332:
While the average 18-year-old has had a wealth of experiences,
and has the intelligence
to explore and comment on those experiences, juniors and
seniors have usually had an
additional 2 or 3 years to mature, and are usually capable of
more sophisticated
judgments.
The student body at UMUC is typically represents the older
student that Gellis describes
here. For this reason, it is hoped that the essay provides you, as
a UMUC student, the
opportunity to make sophisticated judgments and thorough
analyses of a previous work or

9. community experience.
Point of View:
For writing assignment #1, you will write in first-person point
of view for much of your
analysis. In other words, you will feel free to use “I” and “we”
in describing your work
experience. While you may have been discouraged from using
first-person point of view in
previous classes, please note that this essay is one that lends
itself to first-person point of view.
However, you should not write in second-person point of view.
In other words, you will not
write "to the reader" by using the pronoun "you" in referring to
the reader.
Length and Due Date
Length: 800-1200 words.
Due Date: to be determined by the instructor
Writing Assignment #1: Autobiographical
EssayOrganization:Some possible topics on the essay include
the following:Point of View:Length and Due Date