Drug trafficking has been a consistent law enforcement problem in the United States. As a result, the United States has implemented policies to reduce the supply of illicit drugs. However, drug traffickers have developed new strategies to ensure a steady supply of drugs, including drug-related violence. According to Osterburg and Ward (2010), new trends in drug trafficking have turned drug-related cases into specialized forms of investigation in state and federal jurisdictions. The investigative process of drug-related cases is complex and may involve multiple authorities across state and international borders. The investigation process may involve traditional investigations, surveillance, undercover, or informant operations.
Investigative Process
Drug-related cases can begin as traditional cases requiring traditional investigative processes. For instance, a motor vehicle accident or homicide may trigger a drug-related investigation. In such cases, investigators rely on physical evidence and victim or witness testimonies (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). Therefore, investigators must apply traditional investigative procedures such as taking witness testimonies, collecting drug evidence, and conducting forensic investigations. Collecting drug evidence involves searching the crime scene and conducting field tests to confirm the presence of illicit substances (Ogle & Plotkin, 2012). Suspected drug evidence is collected in specialized containers and taken to the laboratory for confirmatory tests. The evidence is labeled with standard identifiers such as date, case number, evidence number, and investigator’s name to establish a chain of custody. Therefore, investigators must employ standard procedures and precautions to ensure physical evidence or witness testimony is admissible in court.
However, the formal investigation may uncover a more extensive network, requiring specialized investigative approaches like surveillance. According to Osterburg and Ward (2010), surveillance makes up the largest part of collecting information about drug operations. Visual surveillance often involves taking photographs and video recordings to show the relationship between drug traffickers. On the other hand, electronic surveillance helps investigators collect financial information and conversations between criminals. Investigators must collect as many details as possible when conducting surveillance, since criminals have invented multiple strategies to disguise their operations (Warren et al., 2020). While some information may seem irrelevant to the case, it may be valuable in interpreting other details as the investigation continues. The information will be presented in court to establish a connection between individuals and drug trafficking operations.
Investigators also use undercover agents or cultivate informants in drug trafficking organizations to collect inside information about organizational structures and operations. Establishing undercover operations or informants is a challenging and dangerous task due to the violence associated with drug trafficking enterprises (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). The length of undercover operations depends on the nature of the crime or the organizational structure of the drug-trafficking enterprise. According to Zlate (2022), some undercover operations are business-related, where the undercover agent poses as a customer. The seller leads the investigator to a wholesaler, while the wholesaler leads to the supplier until all enterprise members are identified (Osterburg & Ward, 2010). Undercover or informant operations often involve technical surveillance to obtain evidence of criminal activity (Zlate, 2022). Therefore, the undercover agent’s testimony and surveillance records are presented in court as evidence. Undercover policing is also a preventive tactic where law enforcement disrupts drug operations by gathering sufficient evidence to support drug-related charges and the conviction of involved individuals, even if the crime is not allowed to occur (Harfield, 2018). For instance, undercover agents have enabled law enforcement to seize large drug shipments before they are distributed.
Conclusion
As law enforcement moves to proactive tactics to reduce the drug problem in the United States, drug-related cases often require special investigations, such as surveillance and undercover operations. Surveillance and undercover operations enable law enforcement investigators to identify members of a drug trafficking enterprise and collect sufficient evidence to prosecute them. One crucial aspect of the drug-related investigation is collecting sufficient information to establish a connection to the drug operations. Therefore, prosecution depends on the correlation between physical evidence, surveillance information, witness testimonies, and undercover agents’ testimony.