Strategies to combat organized drug trafficking in border strip villages

The present research was conducted with the aim of dealing with organized drug trafficking strategies in the border villages of West Azarbaijan province. This research was conducted in the framework of qualitative approach and basic data research method. The participants included 14 experts from the anti-narcotics police and border guard command of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as traffickers and drug-related criminals, who were selected using a purposeful sampling method until theoretical saturation was reached. The data collection tool was semi-structured interview and data analysis in MAXQDA software platform. The findings showed that the natural geographical situation, long borders and border gaps, facilitation of the smuggling process by agents located at the border and the support of organized groups as causal factors, weakness in border control coverage, weakness in the structure of fighting forces, poverty, and unemployment. and the disorderly situation of the border residents, the existence of exchange capacities in the border and the social connections of the border residents with the other side of the border as background factors and finally the lack of level of government services, the disordered family situation, the weakness of laws and regulations, the weakness of cultural and religious values. and the low level of awareness as intervening factors have a significant effect on the commission of drug crimes in border villages. The consequences included security-police, personal-social and economic consequences. Law enforcement-security approach, public awareness, legislation and economic approach were proposed as coping strategies with the central phenomenon.