Abstract
Abstract For two generations, key countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have suffered from high levels of criminal activity and violence driven by the drug trade. At the heart of this market are complex organizations that produce, process, ship, and sell drugs throughout the region and around the world. The criminal organizations behind the drug trade are not the centralized transnational structures—so-called cartels—usually depicted in the journalistic and policy literature. Rather, these groups tend to operate in their home country and connect to other criminal organizations as they work to bring drugs to market. Criminal organizations, as most institutions, emerge from and exist in a particular local context. This chapter focuses on the recent histories of Brazil, Colombia, and Jamaica, three extensively researched cases, analyzing and comparing how national political and social dynamics shaped criminal organizations, how these groups operate, and their distinctive roles in the global drug trade.
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