Drug, Labor and Sex Trafficking

Michael Van Edwards, former U.S. Border Control Agent, Educator and Consultant shared his knowledge on the topic of Trafficking and the local impact of these practices.

Our borders have evolved over time and the key to understanding the trafficking problem is to recognize that today’s border fight on trafficking is mostly an economic issue. The value of the drug/labor/sex trafficking trade is so significant that eliminating it is nearly impossible. Even if 9 of 10 attempts at trafficking are stopped making them unsuccessful, the value of getting one through more than pays for the failed attempts.

Trafficking is a marketing and distribution business. Like other businesses, those involved with the “manufacturing” of products are constantly working to lower their costs, making trafficking attempts less risky to their “business” model. Like legitimate businesses, traffickers and illegal drug suppliers look to improve quality and lower prices especially as the “products” are further divided in the distribution chain. These trafficking “businesses” thrive on getting capital to buy their products and the profits from cutting them throughout the distribution chain.

So a big part of working to eliminate trafficking is following the money flow.

Additionally policies such as the Flores agreement to protect children involved in immigration issues have led to more human trafficking cases over the last 20 years. Trafficking and aiding humans in undocumented immigration situations is >$100B endeavor. In addition, Remittances (money sent back from the US to foreign countries such as Mexico, China or India) of both a legitimate and from undocumented persons represent a significant boost to these foreign economies such that the incentives surrounding deportation back to these countries are minimized.

As it relates to areas like Rochester area, the biggest impact of trafficking is the flow of higher quality, lower cost illegal drugs such as fentanyl. The people most likely to be vulnerable to human/sex trafficking are poor, runaway children, and Native Americans. These type of individuals are less likely to generate a high level of community interest in a particular case so often go “under the radar” in many situations. Anyone who suspects such situations, should get in touch with the local police and FBI office.

ASIS Rochester thanks Michael Van Edwards for providing for speaking at the February 2023 meeting.