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Article: Colombia as Drug Source
- Article from:
- Encyclopedia of Drugs, Alcohol, and Addictive Behavior
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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COLOMBIA AS DRUG SOURCE
Smuggling and the commerce in contraband have been a way of life in Colombia for nearly 500 years. Approximately 1,000 miles (1609 km) of largely unpatrolled Pacific and Caribbean coastline and vast tracts of mostly uninhabitable territory
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ranging from tropical jungles in the south, to rugged Andean mountain slopes in the east, to sparsely populated deserts in the north
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have made Colombia a haven for smugglers of illegal Cocaine, Mari-Juana, and, most recently, Heroin. Violence, corruption,
inadequate control by the central government over much of its territory, and an ineffective judicial system have hampered Colombia's drug-control efforts. ...