Innocent people are regularly convicted of crimes they did not commit. A number of systemic factors have been found to contribute to wrongful convictions, including eyewitness misidentification, false confessions, informant testimony, official misconduct, and faulty forensic evidence. In Miscarriages of Justice in Canada, Kathryn M. Campbell offers an extensive overview of wrongful convictions, bringing together current sociological, criminological, and legal research, as well as current case-law examples. For the first time, information on all known and suspected cases of wrongful conviction in Canada is included and interspersed with discussions of how wrongful convictions happen, how existing remedies to rectify them are inadequate, and how those who have been victimized by these errors are rarely compensated. Campbell reveals that the causes of wrongful convictions are, in fact, avoidable, and that those in the criminal justice system must exercise greater vigilance and openness to the possibility of error if the problem of wrongful conviction is to be resolved.

The product of five years' investigative reporting, the subject of intense national controversy,
and the source of death threats that forced the National Human Rights Commission to assign
two full-time bodyguards to its author, Anabel Hernandez, "Narcoland" has been a publishing
and political sensation in Mexico.
The definitive history of the drug cartels, "Narcoland" takes readers to the front lines of the
"war on drugs," which has so far cost more than 60,000 lives in just six years. Hernandez explains
in riveting detail how Mexico became a base for the mega-cartels of Latin America and one of the
most violent places on the planet. At every turn, Hernandez names names--not just the narcos,
but also the politicians, functionaries, judges and entrepreneurs who have collaborated with them.
In doing so, she reveals the mind-boggling depth of corruption in Mexico's government
and business elite.
Hernandez became a journalist after her father was kidnapped and killed and the police refused
to investigate without a bribe. She gained national prominence in 2001 with her exposure
of excess and misconduct at the presidential palace, and previous books have focused on
criminality at the summit of power, under presidents Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderon.
In awarding Hernandez the 2012 Golden Pen of Freedom, the World Association of Newspapers
and News Publishers noted, "Mexico has become one of the most dangerous countries in the
world for journalists, with violence and impunity remaining major challenges in terms of press
freedom. In making this award, we recognize the strong stance Ms. Hernandez has taken, at great
personal risk, against drug cartels."

"From the Hardcover edition."

Forty years after the declaration of the ""war on drugs"" by President Nixon, the debate on the effectiveness and costs of the ban is red-hot. Several former Latin American presidents and leading intellectuals from around the world have drawn attention to the ineffectiveness and adverse consequences of prohibitionism. This book thoroughly analyzes the drug policies of one of the main protagonists in this war. The book covers many topics: the economics of drug production, the policies to reduce consumption and decrease supply during the Plan Colombia, the effects of the drug problem on Colombia's international relations, the prevention of money laundering, the connection between drug trafficking and paramilitary politics, and strategies against organized crime. Beyond the diversity in topics, there is a common thread running through all the chapters: the need to analyze objectively what works and what does not, based on empirical evidence. Presented here for the first time to an English-speaking audience, this book is a contribution to a debate that urgently needs to transcend ideology and preconceived opinions.

This annual report prepared by The Board provides a comprehensive account of the global drug situation, analyses trends in drug abuse and drug trafficking and suggests necessary remedial action. Divided into four parts, it covers the following topics: drugs and corruption, functioning of the international drug control system, analysis of the world situation and finally, a set of recommendations to Governments, the United Nations and other relevant international and regional organizations. A set of Annexes follows as well.

The early decades of the twentieth century sparked the Detroit-Windsor region's ascendancy as the busiest crossing point between Canada and the United States, setting the stage for socioeconomic developments that would link the border cities for years to come. As Holly M. Karibo shows, this border fostered the emergence of illegal industries alongside legal trade, rapid industrial development, and tourism. Tracing the growth of the two cities' cross-border prostitution and heroin markets in the late 1940s and the 1950s, Sin City North explores the social, legal, and national boundaries that emerged there and their ramifications. In bars, brothels, and dance halls, Canadians and Americans were united in their desire to cross racial, sexual, and legal lines in the border cities. Yet the increasing visibility of illicit economies on city streets - and the growing number of African American and French Canadian women working in illegal trades - provoked the ire of moral reformers who mobilized to eliminate them from their communities. This valuable study demonstrates that struggles over the meaning of vice evolved beyond definitions of legality; they were also crucial avenues for residents attempting to define productive citizenship and community in this postwar urban borderland.

Human trafficking has emerged as one of the top international and domestic policy concerns, and is well covered and often sensationalized by the media. The nature of the topic combined with various international pressures has resulted in an array of government-led mandates to combat the issue. The Domestication of Human Trafficking examines Canada's criminal justice approaches to human trafficking, with a particular focus on the ways in which the intersecting factors of race, class, gender, and sexuality impact practice. Using a wide range of qualitative and empirically grounded research methods, including extensive analysis of court documents, trial transcripts, and interviews with criminal justice actors, this book contributes to much-needed research that examines, specifies, and sometimes complicates the narratives of how trafficking works as a criminal offence. The Domestication of Human Trafficking turns our attention to the ways in which the offence of human trafficking is made on the front lines of criminal justice efforts in Canada.

'The young bloods did not care whether they killed criminals or civilians . . .' The Cartel is Britain's biggest drugs gang, a global corporation employing thousands of criminals and flooding Britain with cocaine and heroin. Yet the established order is under threat: street gangs are overwhelming the old-school Cartel godfathers with a campaign of violence, intimidation and mayhem, heralding a series of events that has had devastating consequences for the whole of society. In Young Blood, the explosive follow-up to The Cartel, bestselling true-crime author Graham Johnson reveals how the brutal assassination of drug baron Colin 'King Cocaine' Smith in 2007 by a group of young bucks triggered the rise of the foot soldier, and exposes the bitter struggle that has spread throughout Europe as various factions battle to seize control of the most lucrative crime syndicate in British history.

Finally the Tony Mokbel story can be told. the inspiration for Channel Nine's FAt tONY & CO, the new crime series from the producers of UNDERBELLY. An epic tale of family, crime and betrayal set against the backdrop of Melbourne's bullet-riddled suburbs. the cradle-to-cage story of how milk-bar owner tony Mokbel became the Mr Big of Melbourne's drug trade with tentacles reaching around Australia and the globe. Award-winning crime writer Liam Houlihan documents the extraordinary rise and fall of the man they call 'Fat tony', from his ascension through the drug trade to the decade-long and only-now-complete struggle to hold Mokbel to account for his crimes. Houlihan explores the criminal intrigue and political embarrassment arising from the daring and complex escape by public enemy number one - out from under the noses of the authorities - as well as the way wealthy criminals with access to smart lawyers are able to exploit the system and delay justice. Featuring exclusive interviews with top cops and Mokbel family members - and a cast of characters ranging from Zarah Garde-Wilson to Carl and Roberta Williams, Mick Gatto to Chopper Reed and Judy Moran - it's a stranger-than-fiction story of sex, pills, perfidy and pizza.

The drug policies of wealthy consuming countries emphasize criminalization, interdiction, and eradication. Such extreme responses to social challenges risk unintended, costly consequences. The evidence presented in this volume is that these consequences are high in the case of current drug policies, particularly for poor transit and producer countries. These costs include the deaths of thousands in the conflict between drug cartels and security forces, political instability, and the infiltration of criminal elements into governments, on the one hand; and increased narcotics use in countries that would not otherwise have been targeted by drug suppliers. Despite such costs, extreme policies could be worthwhile if their benefits were significantly higher than those of more moderate, less costly policies. The authors review the evidence on the benefits of current policies and find that they are clouded in uncertainty: eradication appears to have no permanent effect on supply; the evidence on criminalization does not exclude either the possibility that its effects on drug consumption are low, or that they are high. Uncertainty over benefits and the high costs of current policies relative to alternatives justifies greater emphasis on lower cost policies and more conscientious and better-funded efforts to assess the benefits of all policies.

The violence generated by Mexico's drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) in recent years has been unprecedented. Although violence has been an inherent feature of the trade in illicit drugs, the character of the drug trafficking-related violence in Mexico has been increasingly brutal. Several politicians and journalists have been murdered and mass killings of young people and migrants using torture and car bombs have led some analysts to question whether the violence has been transformed into something new, requiring a different set of policy responses. This book provides background on drug trafficking in Mexico, identifies the major drug trafficking organisations, and analyses prospects for curbing violence in the future.

Since the late 1990s, the United States has funneled billions of dollars in aid to Colombia, ostensibly to combat the illicit drug trade and State Department-designated terrorist groups. The result has been a spiral of violence that continues to take lives and destabilize Colombian society. This book asks an obvious question: are the official reasons given for the wars on drugs and terror in Colombia plausible, or are there other, deeper factors at work? Scholars Villar and Cottle suggest that the answers lie in a close examination of the cocaine trade, particularly its class dimensions. Their analysis reveals that this trade has fueled extensive economic growth and led to the development of a "narco-state" under the control of a "narco-bourgeoisie" which is not interested in eradicating cocaine but in gaining a monopoly over its production. The principal target of this effort is the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who challenge that monopoly as well as the very existence of the Colombian state. Meanwhile, U.S. business interests likewise gain from the cocaine trade and seek to maintain a dominant, imperialist relationship with their most important client state in Latin America. Suffering the brutal consequences, as always, are the peasants and workers of Colombia. This revelatory book punctures the official propaganda and shows the class war underpinning the politics of the Colombian cocaine trade.

Known to the Greeks as "opos" or "opion," as "afiun" in Persian and Arabic, and "fuyung" in Chinese, opium is at once a palliative and a poison. Its exotic origins, its literary associations, and the properties that are, often erroneously, attributed to it have ensured an ongoing air of mystery.

Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy reveals the long and fascinating history of a powerful and addictive drug and explores the changing fortunes of the modern-day illicit opium trade, especially in the remote regions of Asia. He answers key questions: Why have anti-drug policies failed despite four decades of increasing effort? And what are the shortcomings and limitations of forced eradication, alternative development, "silver bullets," and other quick fixes? In answering these questions, Chouvy draws upon geography, anthropology, politics, and development studies. He shows that the history of opium production is unexpectedly linked to the history of Afghanistan.

A compelling account of a narcotic as old as humanity, "Opium" offers powerful insights into the complex politics and economics of the poppy in the world today.

Bitter, brownish and sticky, opium - the sap of the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum - has been cultivated from the earliest of times. Known to the Greeks as opos or opion, as afiun in Persian and Arabic, and Fu-yung in Chinese, it is a substance that is at once both a palliative and a poison. Its exotic origins, its literary associations and the properties that were frequently, if erroneously, attributed to it have ensured the continuing air of mystery that has long surrounded it. In 'Opium', Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy reveals the fascinating history of this powerful and addictive drug and its long association with civilisation down the centuries. He explores the changing fortunes of the modern day trade in illicit opium, especially in the remote and inaccessible regions of Asia known as the Golden Triangle and Golden Crescent, the major opium-producing areas of the world today. He reveals how, when and why illicit opium production emerged, what sustains it, and why a century of global measures has failed to eradicate it. The result is a compelling account of our continuing fascination with a narcotic as old as humanity itself and a powerful insight into the complexities and difficulties of the politics and economics of the poppy in Asia and the world today.

This book investigates the modus operandi involved in drug trafficking patterns. The layout of the global drug routes and the functioning of major cartels in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

Robert Mazur spent five years undercover infiltrating the criminal hierarchy of Colombia's drug cartels. The dirty bankers and businessmen he befriended knew him as Bob Musella, a wealthy, mob-connected big shot living the good life. Together they partied in expensive hotels, drank the world's finest champagnes, drove Rolls-Royce convertibles and flew in private jets. But under Mazur's designer suits and hidden away in his quality briefcase, recorders whirred quietly, capturing the damning evidence of their crimes. Then, at his own staged wedding, he led a dramatic takedown that shook the underworld. In the end, more than eighty men and women were charged worldwide. Operation C-Chase became one of the most successful undercover operations in the history of US law enforcement, and evidence gathered during the bust proved critical to the conviction of General Manuel Noriega. The Infiltrator is the true story of how Mazur's undercover work helped bring down the unscrupulous bankers who manipulated complex international finance systems to serve drug lords - including Pablo Escobar and the infamous Medillin cartel - corrupt politicians, tax cheats and terrorists. It is a shocking chronicle of the rise and fall of perhaps the biggest and most intricate money-laundering operation of all time. And, at its heart, it's a vivid portrait of an undercover life and the sacrifices it requires. Filled with dangerous lies, near misses and harrowing escapes, The Infiltrator is as bracing and explosive as the greatest fiction thrillers - only it's all true.

Despite gains in international co-operation, several factors, including resource limitations and lack of political will, have impeded U.S. progress in helping governments become full and self-sustaining partners in the counternarcotics effort -- a goal of U.S. assistance. These countries have limited resources to devote to this effort, and many initiatives are dependent on U.S. support. Programs to build maritime interdiction capacity have been particularly affected, as partner nations lack fuel and other resources needed to operate and maintain U.S.-provided boats. Limited political support, particularly in Venezuela, and corruption have also hindered U.S. counternarcotics efforts. In addition, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has implemented a Container Security Initiative (CSI) that targets and scans containers for weapons of mass destruction and terrorist contraband. But CSI has not routinely been used for illicit drug detection, despite its applicability for this purpose.

'Afghanistan is seen as a major drug producer, but its own people are becoming the victims. ... David Macdonald not only explores [the reasons for this] but also tells an addictive tale that is difficult to resist.' Shirazuddin Siddiqi, BBC 'This stunning book provides a first hand account of the Afghan drug problem. David Macdonald has written the definitive text on drugs in Afghanistan.' Professor Gerry Stimson, Executive Director, International Harm Reduction Association 'David Macdonald tells a story about the diversity of drug use in Afghanistan that no one has ever told before.' Ethan Nadelmann, Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance, New York Afghanistan is the world's largest producer of opium and heroin. This book explores the devastating impact that the drugs trade has had on the Afghan people. Author David Macdonald has worked as a drugs advisor to the UN. Based on his extensive experience, this book breaks down the myths surrounding the cultivation and consumption of drugs, providing a detailed analysis of the history of drug use within the country. He examines the impact of over 25 years of continuous conflict, and shows how poverty and instability has led to an increase in drugs consumption. He also considers the recent rise in the use of pharmaceutical drugs, resulting in dangerous chemical cocktails and analyses the effect of Afghanistan's drug trade on neighbouring countries.

Smuggling has been a way of life in Galicia for millennia. The Romans considered its windswept coast the edge of the world. To the Greeks it was from where Charon ferried souls to the Underworld. Since the Middle Ages, its shoreline has scuppered thousands of pirate ships. But the history of Cape Finisterre is no fiction and by the late twentieth century a new and exotic cargo flooded the cape's ports and fishing villages. In Snow on the Atlantic, the book the Spanish national court tried to ban, intrepid investigative journalist Nacho Carretero tells the incredible story of how a sleepy, unassuming corner of Spain became the cocaine gateway into Europe, exposing a new generation of criminals, cartels and corrupt officials, more efficient and ruthless than any who came before.

This Element introduces the concept of oligopoly of coercion to interpretate the interaction between drug trafficking and reconfiguration of the state in Colombia. Three elements are central to this interpretation: corruption in oligopolies of coercion must be understood as a payment by drug traffickers for acting like a parallel state; the state criminalizes more drug as merchandise than drug as capital - its equivalent in money; the politics and war around drug trafficking in Colombia should be understood as the way in which peripheral societies access global markets through the ruling institutions of private armies. With these elements, the author focuses on the dynamics of the reconfiguration of the state in Colombia after the cocaine boom in the mid-70s and the evolution of the private armies in Colombia.