Drug trafficking is the crime of manufacturing, transporting, selling, or distributing illegal drugs, such as heroin, cocaine, marijuana, PCP, LSD, or other illegal drugs. A prosecutor must show that a defendant was involved in the sale, transport, or import of drugs and that the defendant intended to sell or deliver the drugs to win a conviction. If the charges include trafficking drugs across state lines, it may become a federal crime, for which the penalties may be more serious. Similar to drug possession, charges may result in serious jail time and fines if there are higher amounts of drugs in question.
In the federal legal context, a drug trafficking crime is defined as “an offense under federal, state, or local law that prohibits the manufacture, import, export, distribution, or dispensing of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) or the possession of a controlled substance (or a counterfeit substance) with intent to manufacture, import, export, distribute, or dispense.”
Although the perception is that these laws are designed to prevent drug trafficking activities involving the transportation of large amounts of controlled substances into the state, you don’t need to actually be selling or transporting an illegal drug to be charged. In other words, you could simply have too much of a controlled substance in your possession to be classified as for “personal use,” which is considered “intent to distribute.” If you are facing any drug-related charge, contact a drug defense lawyer in Tampa with The Rickman Law Firm to discuss the best defense for your specific case. A free consultation with Anthony Rickman is just a phone call away.