Crimes such as murder, kidnapping, hijacking and bombing are already crimes in their own right but they come under the category of terrorism when the purpose behind them is to spread terror within a population or to try and force the government to act in a certain way . It has a huge cost in terms of human lives lost and irreparably altered and has undermined governments and societies all over the world . Terrorism is sometimes categorised as an international crime, rather than a transnational one .
4.4 Drug Trafficking
The movement of drugs around the world is an incredibly lucrative business for criminals with an estimated $320 billion yearly value . Drugs such as cocaine, heroin, cannabis and amphetamine type drugs are in high demand by
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The cannabis market is the largest with 10.3% of Australians using the drug in 2010 . The cultivation can involve small-scale production for personal use to large operations for the purpose of distribution .
Cocaine is mainly supplied by Columbia, Peru and Bolivia with the market being dominated by entrenched criminal groups such as those from Columbia and Mexico . The high price of cocaine in Australia has made it an attractive market for these groups .
Heroin use in Australia is low compared to other illicit drugs . The heroin market is mainly supplied by Afghan opium and distributed by Columbian and Mexican groups throughout Asia, Europe and the United States .
The amphetamine-type stimulant market is the second biggest in terms of use . Amphetamine type drugs include methylamphetamine and MDMA . These drugs are synthetic and do not require cultivation . The Australian market is a combination of domestic production and importation, which uses the flexibility of the production process to adapt to any regulations and laws that may impact on the supply chain . Methylamphetamine requires chemical precursors for the production with many manufacturers importing the precursors, rather than the ready-made drug