The trial and sentencing of two young, seemingly straight laced, european women has caught the attention of drug enforcement officials.
The two girls were from poor backgrounds in European countries where unemployment is in the double digits for the age bracket the belonged in.
Both women were sentenced for ferrying more than 24 pounds of cocaine from Peru to Spain. The sentence maximum is 18 years, and they could get it, since they have little protection as foreigners. If nothing else, the Peruvian government might make an example of them to dissuade foreigners from taking up the trade.
Many Spanish youths or young adults are snared in the traffic. Spain has the highest unemployment rate in the youngest band of the population for the entire Euro block. In some areas, it approaches 33%, a devastating scenario for those who are about to enter the employment arena in that country.
The Peruvian drug lords have scouts in Spain who recruit young, vulnerable women and men, but even some elderly people have succumbed to being a mule, due to the harsh economic conditions.
The 'trade', as it is called, is intensifying. Just last year 248 foreigners, 62 of them from Spain alone, were arrested at Lima airport. Lima is a gateway city, just like Bogota`, in Colombia.
Many of the young Europeans are lured with the promise of a 5000 Euro reward, easy money, for a job that the narcos insist is smooth passage due to the lax oversight of the Peruvian authorities. But such is not the case. The Peruvian authorities have always been aware of the drug routes from their land, and have honed in on foreigners who exhibit certain patterns of behavior or have unusual travel patterns.
Prisons in Peru are no walk in the park either. Most foreigners are not able to fend for themselves in what are overcrowded, hostile environments, where hardened and dangerous criminals are mixed in with minor or first time offenders.
Some of the recruited begin the trade against their wishes. One of the recruitment hotspots is the island of Ibiza, forever known as a place of excess and no holds barred partying. Some of the scouts force young women to ferry the drugs after threatening them with violence while on vacation in Ibiza, and from there they are forced to travel to Peru.
The main route destination of the drugs from Peru is the United States. But Europe is an even more lucrative spot, where the drug is sold at 50% premium over the US street value. In Asia, due to the great distance, the cocaine can be sold for as many as 4 times the street value of the United States.
Source : France 24/ 8.22.13
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