Jairo Jesús Pinto Hidalgo , Jorge Antonio Silva Centeno
{"title":"Environmental scanning of cocaine trafficking in Brazil: Evidence from geospatial intelligence and natural language processing methods","authors":"Jairo Jesús Pinto Hidalgo , Jorge Antonio Silva Centeno","doi":"10.1016/j.scijus.2023.09.002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Cocaine trafficking threatens countries' national security and is a major public health challenge. Cocaine is transported from producer countries to consumer markets using various routes, methods, and transportation means. These routes develop in the geographical environment, are carefully planned and are geo-strategic objects that respond to the opportunities that drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) find to reduce the risks of interdiction. In this sense, individual drug seizure data (IDS) become essential indicators for identifying trends and understanding trafficking flows associated with drug trafficking routes. However, due to the illicit nature of DTOs, the availability of these data is considerably limited, hindering the ability to analyse and identify trends. This study presents a methodology for collecting and processing data from open-source information reported by Brazil's federal government news website. Using geospatial intelligence and natural language processing methods, we created a dataset with 939 records and 44 variables related to cocaine seizures in Brazil in 2022. We applied geospatial analysis techniques from this dataset to identify trends and potential cocaine trafficking flows. The results were broadly consistent with existing literature on drug trafficking. They demonstrated the potential of open-source information for environmental scanning and knowledge generation through geographic information science. The approach proposed in our research provides tools that can be used to complement drug trafficking monitoring and formulate public policies to strengthen prevention and enforcement strategies.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":49565,"journal":{"name":"Science & Justice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.9000,"publicationDate":"2023-09-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Science & Justice","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1355030623000990","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"MEDICINE, LEGAL","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Cocaine trafficking threatens countries' national security and is a major public health challenge. Cocaine is transported from producer countries to consumer markets using various routes, methods, and transportation means. These routes develop in the geographical environment, are carefully planned and are geo-strategic objects that respond to the opportunities that drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) find to reduce the risks of interdiction. In this sense, individual drug seizure data (IDS) become essential indicators for identifying trends and understanding trafficking flows associated with drug trafficking routes. However, due to the illicit nature of DTOs, the availability of these data is considerably limited, hindering the ability to analyse and identify trends. This study presents a methodology for collecting and processing data from open-source information reported by Brazil's federal government news website. Using geospatial intelligence and natural language processing methods, we created a dataset with 939 records and 44 variables related to cocaine seizures in Brazil in 2022. We applied geospatial analysis techniques from this dataset to identify trends and potential cocaine trafficking flows. The results were broadly consistent with existing literature on drug trafficking. They demonstrated the potential of open-source information for environmental scanning and knowledge generation through geographic information science. The approach proposed in our research provides tools that can be used to complement drug trafficking monitoring and formulate public policies to strengthen prevention and enforcement strategies.
期刊介绍：
Science & Justice provides a forum to promote communication and publication of original articles, reviews and correspondence on subjects that spark debates within the Forensic Science Community and the criminal justice sector. The journal provides a medium whereby all aspects of applying science to legal proceedings can be debated and progressed. Science & Justice is published six times a year, and will be of interest primarily to practising forensic scientists and their colleagues in related fields. It is chiefly concerned with the publication of formal scientific papers, in keeping with its international learned status, but will not accept any article describing experimentation on animals which does not meet strict ethical standards.
Promote communication and informed debate within the Forensic Science Community and the criminal justice sector.
To promote the publication of learned and original research findings from all areas of the forensic sciences and by so doing to advance the profession.
To promote the publication of case based material by way of case reviews.
To promote the publication of conference proceedings which are of interest to the forensic science community.
To provide a medium whereby all aspects of applying science to legal proceedings can be debated and progressed.
To appeal to all those with an interest in the forensic sciences.
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