Abstract
This article looks at the intersection between contraband and violence in Southeast Asia. I argue that the two activities are often linked and play off one another in specific, contextualized ways. To make this case, I examine instances of smuggling in the history of the region; through the trade in human beings, both historically and today; through the transit of narcotics, again historically and today; and via the conduit of a range of other contraband cargoes. Race, religion, memory and geography all factor into the outcome of when smuggling may take on violent forms. I chronicle these occasions throughout the width and breadth of the region, stretching from the Thai/Burmese border in the north to the island world of Insular Southeast Asia in the south. Throughout the essay, I pay particular attention to the larger milieus of commerce, politics, and society that condition moments when acts of smuggling may in fact turn violent.
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Notes
In 2004 I spent some time interviewing in this region, mostly based in the port town of Zamboanga in southwestern Mindanao. I lived with a group of Jesuit missionaries by night; by day I was out and about with local Muslim communities. There is a greater density of men carrying large guns (assault rifles) in the streets of Zamboanga than any other place I have ever worked, except possibly for Yemen.
The best explication of this is still [14].
For only two instances of this, see “Illegal Workers Dumped Far From Shore,” Straits Times, 18 November 1997, and “70 Illegals Rescued From Capsized Boats Off Muar,” Straits Times, 27 July 1997.
See “Bangladeshi Workers Conned into Paying Thousands to Work Here,” Straits Times, 8 June 1997; “Bangladeshi Team to Help Weed Out Dishonest Agents,” Straits Times, 19 June 1997; “Raid Flushes Out Illegal Workers From Water Tank,” Straits Times, 8 August 1997; “Suspects Tell How They Sneaked Into Singapore to Get Work,” Straits Times, 24 July 1997; “Man Paid Illegal Workers Not to Testify at his Trial,” Straits Times, 28 July 1997.
The United Nations has estimated that world opium production jumped from 5,300 tons in 1996 to 6,100 tons in 1999; see ([13]; 49). See also “560b Drug Trade Beats Car Sales Worldwide, Says UN Official,” Straits Times, 24 July 1997.
“Indonesia Sudah Lama Jadi Pemasaran Narkotika,” Angkatan Bersenjata, 4 November 1997, 12; “Philippine Police Seize Huge Volume of Drugs This Year,” Vientiane Times, 29–31 October 1997, 6.
“Drugs Blacklist,” Phnom Penh Post, 16–29 March, 2001, 2; “PM Warns of Takeover by Drug Merchants,” Weekly Review of the Cambodia Daily, 24 April 1997, 12; “Medellin on the Mekong,” Far Eastern Economic Review, 7 September 1995, 29–30; “Medellin on the Mekong,” Far Eastern Economic Review, 23 November 1997, 24–6.
“Dadah Musush Utama Masyarakat,” Pelita Brunei, 2 July 1997, 1.
See ([9], p. 222); Algemeen Rijksarchief, Netherlands (hereafter, ARA), Dutch Consul, Penang to Governor General of the Netherlands East Indies (hereafter GGNEI), 19 Sep 1873, #16, in (Ministerie van Kolonien, hereafter MvK, Verbaal 17 Dec 1873, D33). Other kinds of biota, such as gutta percha, were also declared as contraband by the British on occasion; see Federated Malay States Annual Report 1901 (Perak), p. 5.
ARA, 1898, Mailrapport (hereafter, MR) #634.
ARA, Extract Uit het Register der Besluiten, GGNEI, in 1883, MR #24; ARA, 1892, MR #388; ARA, Memorie van Overgave van de Residentie Westerafdeeling van Borneo (MMK, 1912, #260), p. 34.
ARA, Dutch Consul, Singapore to GGNEI, 10 Dec 1885, #986, in 1885, MR #807; Utusan Malayu, 9 Feb 1909, p. 1; Public Records Office (hereafter PRO), Gov. Straits to Colonial Office (hereafter CO), 26 May 1900, Telegram, and Gov Straits to CO, 31 May 1900, Secret, both in CO 273/257; Longmans, Green, and Co., Publishers, to the Copyright Association, and forwarded to the CO, 15 Nov 1888, in CO 273/157.
These types of “pusaka”, or heirlooms, were considered to be very valuable by various peoples living in the forest; a commerce in these products had been active for centuries. Jars were thought to have special attributes, such as being able to sing or cure diseases, while others served as canisters for burying the dead, or as dowries. See [5]; for jars across the frontier in Dutch Borneo, see [1].
Renee Onreat [10], Singapore: A Police Background, (n.d.), p. 30.
“The Ten Billion Dollar Black Market in Endangered Animals”, New York Times Magazine, 2/16/97: 30. These items are prized by collectors, not epicures; this also holds true for many rare snakes. See “Hunted and Hounded: Rare Boelen’s Python Slithers to Extinction,” Jakarta Post, 4/13/01: 9. On turtles, see “Foiled—Plot to Smuggle Out Rare Turtles”, Straits Times, 9/13/97; Photo with caption, Indonesian Observer, 9/9/97: 4; “Endangered Tortoises Seized From Mini-Mart”, Straits Times, 6/5/97. See also [7].
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**NB: Most of the field-research for this piece (including local newspaper article accumulation) was done in the late 1990s under a Fulbright grant. A subsequent Faculty Fulbright in 2004 supplemented much of this earlier research, and also allowed me to travel to a number of other locales to make observations on this topic.
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Tagliacozzo, E. Contraband and violence: lessons from the Southeast Asian case. Crime Law Soc Change 52, 243–252 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-009-9201-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-009-9201-5