Answer each of the following in approximately three pages. Both questions focus on complicated, multi-faceted issues. The questions require you to distill these complicated issues down to their fundamental elements, summarize them briefly and make connections among them. This means you have to practice economy in writing, striving to make the most efficient use of your limited space. You will have to synthesize, combine, catalogue, categorize, classify, analyze and summarize to provide a succinct review of the issues.
I want you to refer to the readings. Do not rely solely on the Power Points. Those are only guides. The substance is found in the readings. Be sure to cite your sources. Also, make sure you indicate when you are quoting from the readings.
Please submit your answers via Blackboard. Instructions can be found on the course syllabus. Be careful to submit by the assignment due date or risk being penalized.
1. Discuss the elements of the cocaine “supply chain” (from producers to consumers) that results in the drug being available to users in the U.S. Be sure to refer to statistics on quantities and values of the illicit drug in the market. Why does the U.N. report refer to the industry as a “market in decline”? What factors have influenced this trend?
2. Why is money laundering essential to many transnational criminal enterprises? Discuss the basic elements of traditional money laundering schemes. What roles have legitimate financial institutions, e.g., banks, played in money laundering schemes operated for the benefit of international organized crime groups. Give examples.