3 Arizona Men Charged for Attempting to Steal Smuggled Drugs
Who hasn’t heard of a police sting operation? In a twist, three men are charged with robbery for attempting to steal illegal drugs during a federal drug sting.
Police sometimes use sting operations to arrest and charge people for crimes. In some ways it is a lot like fishing. The police provide a shiny lure in the form of a readily available opportunity to commit a crime, see who bites, and then reel them in. Many question these sorts of tactics and whether they constitute entrapment, wherein law enforcement is effectively provoking an action from someone that would not normally have committed such a crime. No matter, this does not stop police from engaging in the practice. Common sting operations include prostitution, bait cars, posing as a child online in order to catch potential child molesters, and the list goes on.
In an online article, three men in Phoenix were recently charged in federal court for trying to steal illegal drugs from someone who had already done the hard work of smuggling the drugs into the United States. Unfortunately for them, the vehicle that they stole the drugs from was part of a federal sting operation. Usually these kinds of crimes are committed between cartels who find it easier to steal the drugs from other cartels or dealers after smuggling the drugs into the country. However, in this case the three men who attempted to steal the drugs were not related to cartels. They have instead been linked to a militia group.
Unfortunately, drug smuggling and related drug crimes are a global phenomenon with many governments throughout the world attempting to shut down this black market trade. Drug traffickers who are caught by authorities often face stiff penalties, including prison time. Often drug smuggling is owned by drug families or cartels. Violence to achieve their goals and protect profit is common. In fact, the United States FBI estimates that 5% of murders in the 1990’s were drug related, and it is estimated that 90% of the violence in Mexico near the border with the United States is drug related. The Unites States in particular has long had a ‘War on Drugs’ as it is commonly known.