250 Word Discussion Response
In consideration of the actions of the western powers, during the first opium war, their steps can be taken the same as those of the modern drug cartels. The first opium war involved a series of military engagements. It was fought between the Qing dynasty of China and Britain. The issue was official seizure of opium stocks at the canton by Chinese officials to stop the opium trade that was banned. The future offenders were threatened with death penalties.
The British government was insisting on free trade with equality among nations. Due to the imbalance in trade, the opium in Bengal allowed private British merchants, to sell the drug to smugglers of china to conduct illegal business in china (Lovell 2015). The narcotics reversed the surplus trade of the Chinese and ended up draining the economy of silver, increasing the number of opium addicts inside the country.
The outcome of this opium trade worried the officials of China. These actions are exactly like those of today’s drug cartels. The modern cartels are people who form organizations intending to supply drugs through commercial enterprises that are formalized. In the same manner, the opium trade invaded the already functioning of trade channels in china to provide opium to the Chinese people.
Though the opium business was illegal, the British were able to use smugglers of china to facilitate their illicit trade using secure connections. That is the same way that modern cartels operate their activities today by trafficking illegal drugs intonations with the use of formed organizations. By the time the officials realize about the business, it is already involving high profile people and thus making it difficult to stop the cartels from carrying out the illegal activity or even taking legal actions against them.