If you find yourself facing drug trafficking charges, you cannot waste any time building a strong legal defense. Even simple drug possession charges can result in lengthy jail time and significant fines, and may bar you from exercising certain rights.
Drug trafficking charges are much more serious, especially since they are usually felony charges and may involve law enforcement at both the federal and state level.
“Drug trafficking” is a term that may apply to many offenses, with varied punishments. Law enforcement and prosecution often recommend much stiffer penalties for these violations, because trafficking entails moving significant quantities of a substance in order to distribute it elsewhere.
Narratively, it is easy for law enforcement to connect the dots between a suspect carrying enough of a substance to suggest distribution and horror stories of drug pushers ruining the lives of young people throughout the region. Whether this bears any resemblance to your own circumstances, if you face drug trafficking charges, this is the narrative that you will possibly face.
Defenses to drug trafficking charges
There is no one-size-fits-all defense to drug trafficking, in large part because there are many ways that these charges can arise. In some cases, a person may be unaware that they are being used to carry controlled substances, given to them by someone else using them as an unwitting drug mule.
In other instances, trafficking charges may arise after an unauthorized search and seizure, or something similar. Each of these instances requires its own defense strategy. A victim of drug muling may claim that they were unaware of the substance they were carrying, while the victim of unlawful search and seizure may object to the conduct of the arresting officer.
No matter how you receive your charges, you must build a strong defense based on the specifics of your circumstances. This takes time, because you must carefully review the evidence against you and the circumstances that lead to the charges. Any inconsistency on the part of law enforcement may provide a defensive opportunity.
Multi-layered defense
Part of what makes drug trafficking charges so complicated to deal with is the possibility of charges arising from both state law enforcement and federal law enforcement. Facing federal drug charges is a much different threat beyond state-level charges, often resulting in serious incarceration time.
As you build your defense, be sure to consider the state and federal issues at hand. Your future freedoms depend on this defense, so you must use everything that you have available to keep your rights safe while you fight for your physical freedom.