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Merchants, Smugglers, and Pirates:: Multinational Clandestine Trade on the South China Coast, 1520–50

Robert J. Antony

in Elusive Pirates, Pervasive Smugglers: Violence and Clandestine Trade in the Greater China Seas

This chapter examines the multinational clandestine trade among merchants, smugglers, and pirates in the South China coast during the period from 1520 to 1550. It argues against the widely-held ... More

This chapter examines the multinational clandestine trade among merchants, smugglers, and pirates in the South China coast during the period from 1520 to 1550. It argues against the widely-held belief which viewed the foreign presence along the China coast as an unwelcome intrusion and a manifestation of imperialism. It argues that foreigners positively influenced the Chinese economy by bringing it new life and explains that though piracy and violence associated with smuggling had a negative impact on the local social order it greatly facilitated the development of a new commodity economy in local society which filled a need that the regular economy failed to offer.Less

Walter Scott’s Disloyal Smugglers

Ayşe Çelikkol

in Romances of Free Trade: British Literature, Laissez-Faire, and the Global Nineteenth Century

This chapter uncovers some of the earliest articulations of the tension between free trade and patriotism as it examines the novels of Walter Scott. Guy Mannering (1815) and Redgauntlet (1824) ... More

This chapter uncovers some of the earliest articulations of the tension between free trade and patriotism as it examines the novels of Walter Scott. Guy Mannering (1815) and Redgauntlet (1824) critique unrestricted commercial exchange through the figure of the smuggler. This figure is so resonant because it superposes two distinct contexts, one economic and the other literary. In early-nineteenth-century Britain, the contraband trade was political economists’ favorite trope for proving the inevitability of commodity circulation across national borders. The smuggler, however, belonged as much to romance tales as to political economy: for centuries, smugglers embellished adventure tales of unruly exploits. Scott’s novels bring the latter context to bear on the former. The detachment of fictional smugglers comes to express the interpersonal consequences of free trade: an inability to form bonds.Less

The Third Man

Danilo Mandić

in Gangsters and Other Statesmen: Mafias, Separatists, and Torn States in a Globalized World

This chapter traces host state, separatist movement, and mafia relations in Serbia and Georgia (1989–2012). Kosovo and South Ossetia are the most similar pair of separatist stories in the ex-Yugoslav ... More

This chapter traces host state, separatist movement, and mafia relations in Serbia and Georgia (1989–2012). Kosovo and South Ossetia are the most similar pair of separatist stories in the ex-Yugoslav and ex-Soviet spaces. Their unique mix of wars (foreign and civil), separatist mobilizations (some successful, others less so), and mafia roles (sometimes tearing states, sometimes consolidating them) offers precious lessons on the agency of organized crime. In Serbia and Georgia, war was mafia as much as state business. Borders were made and unmade by smugglers. The black market was not an anomaly; the formal economy was. What separatists achieved depended tremendously on whether organized crime was multiethnic or not, violent or not, strong or not. Different mafia roles gave different results. Though organized crime in both countries began as a rejoicing third, the mafia's role in Kosovo evolved into a divider and conqueror, while in South Ossetia it evolved into a mediator. These differing trajectories account for the greater success of Kosovo's separatist movement.Less

Maritime Connections

Stephen Conway

in Britain, Ireland, and Continental Europe in the Eighteenth Century: Similarities, Connections, Identities

This chapter begins by exporing the European orientation of the Royal Navy and a great deal of British and Irish merchant shipping. The focus then turns to maritime towns and cities, where seafarers ... More

This chapter begins by exporing the European orientation of the Royal Navy and a great deal of British and Irish merchant shipping. The focus then turns to maritime towns and cities, where seafarers from many nations interacted. The next section looks at the mobility of the maritime labour force: the tendency for sailors to work on ships (naval vessels and merchantmen) of different nations is particularly striking. The world of cross‐Channel smugglers is then examined. Once the network of connections has been sketched, consideration is given to the more tricky issue of attitudes. The evidence is patchy, especially at the level of the common seaman, but there are some insights if we look carefully enough. Patriotic utterances can readily be found, but so too can indications of other forms of belonging, including a sense of occupational solidarity, uniting sailors of different nations.Less

Boundary Breakers: Infiltrators, Smugglers, Spies

Hillel Cohen

in Good Arabs: The Israeli Security Agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948-1967

Palestinian nationalists maintained that Arab refugees who were uprooted during the 1948 hostilities had the right to return to their homes. Infiltration was one of the most acute challenges faced by ... More

Palestinian nationalists maintained that Arab refugees who were uprooted during the 1948 hostilities had the right to return to their homes. Infiltration was one of the most acute challenges faced by the young state of Israel. Some infiltrators were out to kill and avenge as well as to act as spies. Others were motivated by destitution. Some of them lived by robbery and theft in the country that had arisen on the ruins of their villages, and others worked as smugglers. Arabs who crossed the border with the intention of remaining in the country jeopardized Israel's demographic balance, and smugglers undercut the country's sovereignty within its borders. It is hardly surprising, then, that the battle against infiltration, both defensive and offensive, was the focal point of Israel Defense Forces operations; the police force and military government also worked hard against it. There were collaborators with Arab intelligence organizations who conveyed information about Israel over the border, nationalists who sheltered infiltrators, and informers who turned them in.Less

British Merchants, Private Interests and the Fostering of Free Trade in Chile, 1811–1831

Andrés Baeza Ruz

in Contacts, Collisions and Relationships: Britons and Chileans in the Independence era, 1806-1831

The final case study to be discussed is the role of the other British ‘non–state’ actors involved in Chile’s independence–era: merchants. The presence of merchants and traders of different ... More

The final case study to be discussed is the role of the other British ‘non–state’ actors involved in Chile’s independence–era: merchants. The presence of merchants and traders of different nationalities had been very extensive along the Chilean coasts prior to the crisis of 1808, but their presence was illegal since Spain adopted a trade monopoly policy after the conquest of America. This situation changed after 1811 thanks to the policies adopted by the new Chilean authorities, who gradually ‘legalised’ the status of these ‘smugglers’. As a result, the activities of British merchants in Chile were no longer forbidden and their former status as illegal traders or smugglers shifted to a new one, in which they became legal merchants operating in Chile. British merchants who travelled to Chile were fundamental in fostering and consolidating, although as with the cases studied in chapters two and three, this was done according to local conditions.Less

An Officer in Cahoots with Pirates: Coastal Garrisons and Maritime Smuggling

Michael Szonyi

in The Art of Being Governed: Everyday Politics in Late Imperial China

This chapter introduces the Jiang family, hereditary commanders of the garrison at Fuquan. At least one of their members was both an officer and also a smuggler and pirate. This story shows how ... More

This chapter introduces the Jiang family, hereditary commanders of the garrison at Fuquan. At least one of their members was both an officer and also a smuggler and pirate. This story shows how families took advantage of their special position in the military system to gain advantage in illicit commerce. Their proximity to the state and their ability to negotiate the differences between the military and commercial realms using their special position gave them a competitive advantage in overseas trade. Families strategizing about how to work within military institutions, working the system to their advantage, making decisions about the degree to which they would or would not be incorporated by the Chinese state, played an important role in the development of China's diaspora and its global trade linkages. The chapter also talks about soldiers stationed in the garrison that had to adapt to the new contexts in which they found themselves and build new communities.Less

Kingpin

Russell Crandall

in Drugs and Thugs: The History and Future of America's War on Drugs

This chapter introduces Colombia's sweet-smelling cannabis as an export-grade product that was abundant from the countryside to interior cities, such as Medellín, and became the global gold standard ... More

This chapter introduces Colombia's sweet-smelling cannabis as an export-grade product that was abundant from the countryside to interior cities, such as Medellín, and became the global gold standard for pot. It identifies that Colombian kingpins first shipped cannabis northward using American pilots who would land at remote airstrips to pick up hundreds of kilos at a time. It also details how cocaine was brought across by paid smugglers known as mules, estimating that imports of the white powder to the United States totalled six hundred kilos a year. The chapter recounts that the American pot generation found cocaine, which they bought for $2,000 a kilo in Colombia and started selling for more than $55,000 in the United States. It explains how the incredible profit margins of cocaine attracted a motley assortment of kingpins, such as José Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha, who was an emerald dealer before he got into the cocaine game.Less

Enforcement, Aesthetics, and Revenue

Jonathan Eacott

in Selling Empire: India in the Making of Britain and America, 1600-1830

The regulations over India goods were contested by smugglers and consumers but generally enforced through policing and the vigorous efforts of merchants and the East India Company to encourage Indian ... More

The regulations over India goods were contested by smugglers and consumers but generally enforced through policing and the vigorous efforts of merchants and the East India Company to encourage Indian producers and Company servants to supply high-quality, fashionable, and affordable goods. British revenue in India itself was not yet substantial, and although per capita consumption rates of Indian fabrics were higher in American markets than in Europe, the markets themselves and the duty revenues were smaller than those in and from Europe. The purpose of India goods in the trade to Africa for enslaved laborers was clear. To what imperial end such goods should be consumed in the American colonies, however, remained the topic of interest and debate in the imperial government.Less

Risky Border Crossings

Jason De León

in Illegal Encounters: The Effect of Detention and Deportation on Young People

De León provides a critique of “Prevention through Deterrence,” the federal border enforcement policy that encourages migrants to cross in areas characterized by extreme environmental conditions and ... More

De León provides a critique of “Prevention through Deterrence,” the federal border enforcement policy that encourages migrants to cross in areas characterized by extreme environmental conditions and a high risk of death. This policy has failed to deter border crossers while successfully turning the rugged terrain of southern Arizona into a killing field for all undocumented migrants. The threatening space of the U.S.-Mexico border poses particular threats to children and youth who are attempting to cross, especially when crossing without adult family members. Guides and smugglers typically facilitate the movement of young people, or—which is equally dangerous—children increasingly attempt to cross alone or with groups of other children. As children and youth are apprehended trying to enter the United States, they also enter a complicated system of immigration enforcement and detention.Less

The interwar period

Stephen Snelders

in Drug smuggler nation: Narcotics and the Netherlands, 1920-1995

The introduction of the drug regulatory regime in the Netherlands was necessitated by the needs of the country to participate fully in the international community of nations dominated by the Allied ... More

The introduction of the drug regulatory regime in the Netherlands was necessitated by the needs of the country to participate fully in the international community of nations dominated by the Allied victors of the First World War, and to protect the colonial opium monopoly in the Dutch East Indies. However, from the outset the strategies of the state were confronted by the tactics of smugglers and traffickers. Pharmaceutical companies, pharmacists, doctors, patients, and others all tested the boundaries and possibilities of the new regulatory regime in various practices of non-compliance with the new regime. New connections were forged between this ‘upperworld’ and an underworld of suppliers and smugglers. Illegal supply of morphine, heroin, and cocaine did not become the province of large criminal organizations, but rather of flexible and temporary networks of individual partners. On the one hand brokers originating from the pharmaceutical industry connected new forms of supply and demand. On the other hand, criminal entrepreneurs and smugglers began to sideline in the profitable illegal drug market. Distribution chains became socially embedded in bars, dance halls, and brothels. Availability of transport such as fast cars, trains, and river barges, and knowledge of transport routes (border crossings, rivers) that could not be fully controlled by the police made smuggling possible.Less

Pirates as Providers

Kathleen Deagan

in Pieces of Eight: More Archaeology of Piracy

Pirates, smugglers, and contrabandistas were an active and regular force in the circum-Caribbean region during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Although annoying to officials, the illicit ... More

Pirates, smugglers, and contrabandistas were an active and regular force in the circum-Caribbean region during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Although annoying to officials, the illicit goods they introduced into the economic stream of the colonies was often both welcome and essential.   Eighteenth century St. Augustine Florida was no exception.   Using archaeological and textual data, this study considers the ways in which colonial families’ social position, income and ethnic heritage may have shaped their consumption of these illicit goods,  and possibly their attitudes toward pirates and their ilk.Less

Surfers, Scammers, and the Counterculture

Peter Maguire and Mike Ritter

in Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade

This chapter describes in detail the reasons why many in the American baby boomer generation turned to a rebellious, drug-based lifestyle despite their stable upbringing. The Vietnam War played a ... More

This chapter describes in detail the reasons why many in the American baby boomer generation turned to a rebellious, drug-based lifestyle despite their stable upbringing. The Vietnam War played a pivotal role in the post-World War II counterculture—not only in the sense that it encouraged many citizens to take what they perceived as the moral high ground in rebelling against the establishment, but also in the sense that soldiers returning home from Southeast Asia found ways to bring the local marijuana home with them. Hawaii in particular became the ideal stopover, and within this context, the surfer smugglers became “watermen”—masters of an unstable oceanic arena, Dionysian men of action who rejected all things political in favor of a sensual, hedonistic life.Less

The Gold Rush

Peter Maguire and Mike Ritter

in Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade

This chapter discusses tensions arising between the marijuana smugglers during the mid-1970s, when participants in a smuggling ring have since shifted away from a harmonious, hippie-style ... More

This chapter discusses tensions arising between the marijuana smugglers during the mid-1970s, when participants in a smuggling ring have since shifted away from a harmonious, hippie-style cooperation, to one founded on greed and a “winner takes all” attitude. The interactions between the foreign scammers and their Thai coworkers also shifted, with greed permeating the rather loosely maintained smuggling operations on several levels. Even piracy was an issue as the American smugglers attempted to navigate Southeast Asian waters, although they soon found that local law enforcement could also pose a problem, if they were not properly bribed and negotiated with. The ongoing Vietnam War further complicated things, as the smugglers were arrested under suspicion of espionage, and were even erroneously identified as being part of the American military, even as many of them were in actuality draft dodgers.Less

Multitons and Mother Ships

Peter Maguire and Mike Ritter

in Thai Stick: Surfers, Scammers, and the Untold Story of the Marijuana Trade

This chapter discusses the larger scale operations for transferring cargoes of Thai sticks onto American soil, as well as the law enforcement efforts to stop the maritime deliveries of multitons into ... More

This chapter discusses the larger scale operations for transferring cargoes of Thai sticks onto American soil, as well as the law enforcement efforts to stop the maritime deliveries of multitons into U.S. borders via “mother ships.” Such operations involved bigger risks and more elaborate planning, given that the simpler, more informal deals became less and less financially viable over time as, among other things, crackdowns on drug smuggling became ever more persistent. It took law enforcement many years to realize that marijuana smugglers, unlike the heroin lords and the cocaine cowboys, were nonviolent and usually trafficked only in marijuana. Scammers represented a departure from the stereotypical smuggler in terms of motivation, lifestyle, and drugs of preference. Initially, among those who most misunderstood the Thai marijuana trade were American law enforcement agents, who refused to believe that no one person controlled the industry.Less

Victims, Villains and Saviours

Ala Sirriyeh

in The Politics of Compassion: Immigration and Asylum Policy

This chapter examines how the governments of Australia, the UK and the United States have co-opted discourses of compassion for ‘deserving’ immigrants and refugees to justify the enactment of violent ... More

This chapter examines how the governments of Australia, the UK and the United States have co-opted discourses of compassion for ‘deserving’ immigrants and refugees to justify the enactment of violent and punitive policies. In particular, it explores the emergence of the figure of the people smuggler as a racialised and gendered villain in contemporary border enforcement narratives and as a target for outrage driven by ‘compassion’. It first considers how violent humanitarianism has been justified through three archetype and neocolonial characters developed through the border-enforcement narrative: the ‘suffering refugee’, the villainous ‘people smuggler’ and ‘migrant queue jumper’, and the saviour government. It then discusses the ways in which a discourse of compassion for ‘genuine’ victims has been employed to direct disapproval and outrage against smugglers and migrant ‘queue jumpers’. It also describes the criminalisation of solidarity and humanitarianism as part of the war on people smugglers.Less

Traversing the Line: Border Crossers and Alien Smugglers

in Making the Chinese Mexican: Global Migration, Localism, and Exclusion in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands

This chapter discusses inconsistencies of border enforcement at the southern U.S. border and the way in which Chinese smugglers blazed illegal pathways across the Arizona and California lines. The ... More

This chapter discusses inconsistencies of border enforcement at the southern U.S. border and the way in which Chinese smugglers blazed illegal pathways across the Arizona and California lines. The backdoor route was so successful that it spurred American politicians to seek a diplomatic solution to end illegal entry of Chinese at the country's northern and southern borders, although Canada was more inclined than Mexico to accommodate American requests. By the turn of the twentieth century, enforcing Chinese exclusion laws remapped the U.S.–Mexico borderlands on the basis of a new sense of territoriality.Less