IN THIS ISSUE In this issue of Physics & Society, we continue our series on the risks of nuclear weapons after the Cold War. In their article Illicit Trafficking of Weapons-Usable Nuclear Material: Facts and Uncertainties, Lyudmila Zaitseva and Friedrich Steinhausler have provided us with a very detailed look at what is known about the smuggling of fissile materials. They have also provided a r...

BACKGROUND Increases in taxation can contribute to smoking control. In the early 1990's, tobacco smuggling rates in Canada increased dramatically. Governments responded with a substantial reduction in taxes on tobacco products. This study examines the impact of these tax changes on smoking in youth in Canada. METHODS Data on smoking from three consecutive cycles of the Canadian Community Heal...

This paper focuses on the risk decision-making problem in customs targeting, whose major responsibility is to inspect the smuggling goods in import/export declarations. In this problem, the estimated smuggling probabilities of import/export goods, which can be obtained by applying statistical analysis to observations (samples), are needed for accurate inspection decision. A critical presumption...

Border control is the primary method to prevent rabies emergence. This study developed a quantitative risk model incorporating stochastic processes to evaluate whether border control measures could efficiently prevent rabies introduction through importation of cats and dogs using Taiwan as an example. Both legal importation and illegal smuggling were investigated. The impacts of reduced quarant...

This paper uses a unique dataset to examine the economics of cross-border drug smuggling. Our results reveal that loads are generally quite large (median 30 kg), but with substantial variance within and across drug types. Males and females, as well as U.S. citizens and non-U.S. citizens are all well represented among mules. We also find that mule compensation is substantial (median $1,313), and...

The purpose of the paper is to identify optimal legislative model criminal law counteraction commodity smuggling in Ukraine, taking into account experience foreign countries, primarily European Union. following research methods have been used study legislation, prove hypotheses, formulate conclusions: comparative law, system analysis, formal logic and modeling methods. Taking achievements scien...

This paper is motivated by the rise of criminal acts smuggling goods and services in Indonesia. The Customs Excise Party as a government agency has conducted supervision inspection imports both from within abroad to eradicate smuggling. Sumatra region, one which Aceh places for committing crime shallot products. If this always occurs every year, then year state suffers losses. study used qualit...

All countries impose restrictions on the export of various classes of cultural property and antiques, ranging from archeological objects, to coins, to older art works. Hence, their sale abroad often requires their illegal export from the country of origin. As with other activities of questionable legality, however, it has been difficult to put a precise figure on the full extent of trafficking ...