Cocaine Trafficking Research Articles

Towards spatially disaggregated cocaine supply chain modeling

Despite the global reach and economic scale of cocaine trafficking, our best geographic understanding of the global trade remains coarse. A more spatially disaggregated understanding of how the cocaine supply chain embeds across multiple locations is necessary for informing security policies and anticipating the spread and intensity of social and environmental harms associated with the cocaine trade. In this research, modeling methods used for legal supply chains are adapted to spatially disaggregate illicit supply chain flows. Profit and supply maximization model versions were compared to elucidate key decision parameters cocaine traffickers might be facing. Cocaine flows to EU+3 (Norway, Turkey, and United Kingdom) markets were estimated based on the smuggling capacity of major Central American ports and bilateral trade volumes of selected commodities most often seized with cocaine shipments. The resulting estimates of cocaine volumes diverted to EU+3 countries from Central America ranged between 938 and 1526 metric tons (MT). Generally, easier concealment and storage in Central America led to less volume supplied to the United States (US) and increased shipments to EU+3 markets. Importantly, the value of this modeling approach is not in the quantitative estimates produced, but in the methodological approach that provides the ability to rigorously ground any quantitative estimates of clandestine phenomenon in the best available data.

Jaguar conservation is caught in the crossfire of America's 'War on Drugs'

International conservation efforts and prohibitionary drug intersect in unexpected ways throughout the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC). US-led counterdrug interdiction of transnational cocaine trafficking, or ‘narco-trafficking’, is increasingly pushing narco-traffickers and their associated environmental destruction into protected areas (PAs) to establish new smuggling routes. These locations are also where the greatest densities of jaguars (Panthera onca), an iconic and declining species, are found in Central America. Intersecting two geospatial datasets estimating 1) jaguar densities and 2) changes in landscape suitability for drug trafficking following counterdrug interdiction pressure, we estimated that roughly 69 % of the estimated population of jaguars in the MBC were found in areas of increased suitability for narco-traffickers. Moreover, jaguar populations within PAs were 2.5 and 34 times more likely to be in increased narco-trafficking suitability areas than those in jaguar corridors or other area without conservation designations, respectively. These findings illustrate the full costs of continuing current counterdrug interdiction policies alongside conventional conservation strategies and suggest that community-based conservation governance may more effectively discourage narco-trafficking activities and enhance conservation outcomes.

Irgafos 168 and Irganox 1076 as new cocaine cutting agents: A COVID-19 pandemic impact on cocaine profiling and trafficking in Brazil

BackgroundsRestrictions in movement and closure of borders imposed by the Sars-Cov- 2 worldwide pandemic have affected the global illicit drug market, including cocaine trafficking. In this scenario, comparing cutting agents added to the cocaine and the drug purity are valuable strategies to understand how the drug trade has been impacted by the pandemic. MethodsIn this work, 204 cocaine salt materials seized in the Brazilian Federal District, before (2019) and during COVID-19 pandemics (2020) were analyzed by two analytical techniques: gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Statistical analyses, including Principal Component Analysis (PCA), were applied to evaluate the COVID-19 pandemic impact in the local market. Bibliometric analysis was performed as a forensic intelligence tool. Results: From 2019–2020, cocaine average purity decreased 26 % while the frequency of cutting agents, as caffeine and anesthetics (lidocaine, tetracaine) increased. The high percentage of unknown were increased. Different cocaine profiling seized in 2020 showed new cutting agents, such as Irganox 1076, and Irgafos 168, indicating a trend on new adulterants/diluents introduced in the local market to mitigate the local drug shortage. Also in 2020, there was an increase in the local cocaine seizures, despite of the cocaine drug purity decreased by 26 % compared to 2019. Conclusions: Taken together, these data showed that the covid-19 pandemics has impacted cocaine trafficking in the Brazilian Federal District, an increase in cocaine seizures, which may indicate greater demand for the drug and, specially, changes in the cocaine purity and cutting agents profiling showing how traffickers tried to minimize difficulties in crossing the Brazilian border during COVID-19 restrictions. The information is relevant since Brazil is one of the major departure points for traded cocaine to the world. Bibliometric analysis showed that Irgafos 168 and Irganox 1076 were consistently identified as cocaine cutting agents for the first time.

Environmental scanning of cocaine trafficking in Brazil: Evidence from geospatial intelligence and natural language processing methods

Cocaine trafficking threatens countries' national security and is a major public health challenge. Cocaine is transported from producer countries to consumer markets using various routes, methods, and transportation means. These routes develop in the geographical environment, are carefully planned and are geo-strategic objects that respond to the opportunities that drug trafficking organisations (DTOs) find to reduce the risks of interdiction. In this sense, individual drug seizure data (IDS) become essential indicators for identifying trends and understanding trafficking flows associated with drug trafficking routes. However, due to the illicit nature of DTOs, the availability of these data is considerably limited, hindering the ability to analyse and identify trends. This study presents a methodology for collecting and processing data from open-source information reported by Brazil's federal government news website. Using geospatial intelligence and natural language processing methods, we created a dataset with 939 records and 44 variables related to cocaine seizures in Brazil in 2022. We applied geospatial analysis techniques from this dataset to identify trends and potential cocaine trafficking flows. The results were broadly consistent with existing literature on drug trafficking. They demonstrated the potential of open-source information for environmental scanning and knowledge generation through geographic information science. The approach proposed in our research provides tools that can be used to complement drug trafficking monitoring and formulate public policies to strengthen prevention and enforcement strategies.

The Definitions with a Prefix ‘Narco-’, and a Real Conundrum in West Africa

The problem of drug trafficking has been discussed, taking two dimensions in historiography: political and heuristic-practical. While the first is dealt with in the article by revealing some cases of policy-guided research agendas, the second is explored on the example of West Africa. To give address to these problems, the paper distinguished different levels of analysis: apprehending of social context, strata analysis, and careful generalizing. Central Sahel takes a special attention – the region has suffered great social transformations and the question is what place has trafficking had in these processes. In West Africa, the trafficking of cocaine and hashish is incongruent with existing simplistic stereotypes. It has relied on preexisting smuggling networks and deeply engaged with local social structures, maintaining business as usual. Reification of politicized concepts (‘narco-terrorism’, ‘narco-states’, etc.) has been utilised to advance political agenda.

Why the Drug War Endures: Local and Transnational Linkages in the North and Central America Drug Trades

Honduras has been Central America’s focal point for drug trafficking towards the United States for years as the region’s main transit country. Recent court cases held in the United States have revealed the symbiotic relationship between state actors, business elites and drug trafficking organisations in contemporary Honduras, uncovering the blurred boundaries between the licit and illicit, the upper and underworld in the country. In this article, a drug-trafficking family – ‘Los Cachiros’ <em>transportista</em> (transport) group – is analysed as a case study with the aim of exploring state actors’ involvement in cocaine trafficking. Drawing on publicly available official judicial documents, this article explores the interpenetrations between formal and informal institutions in the country, arguing that state actors’ involvement in the drug trade in Honduras goes far beyond protection, and has evolved into a powerful network of public, private and criminal actors that has been able to capture the state’s basic sovereign functions with the aim of protecting and promoting their own private interests. In doing so, this article takes forward the state-crime nexus literature. Building on Hall’s (2018) networked approach in the study of illicit economies, this article proposes a conceptual framework to re-theorise the state-crime nexus as a transnationally networked set of relations, which considers the role of external states as actors of power within a country’s state-crime nexus. Looking at the unique relationship between Honduras and the United States, I argue that the concept is useful to understand the role of the United States as a transnational actor of power within the Honduran state-crime nexus.

Acknowledging Cocaine Capital in Central American Development

Cocaine trafficking has a significant but understudied influence on Central American economies. The economic implications of this trade have repercussions for both regional development and drug control policy debates, and therefore deserve greater attention. Towards that end, in this paper we provide estimates of 1) the value of trade of primary cocaine movements that were delivered to Central America, by country (excluding El Salvador) between 2000 and 2018; and 2) the value added by the cocaine trade to Central American economies. Due to limits in data availability, we compare several estimation approaches to impute missing price and volume data using information available to us. We then use available and imputed figures to estimate the value of cocaine movements for each country over time, and the value added as a measure of difference between the Central American country of arrival and the source country of Colombia. In interpreting and discussing our findings we draw attention to the economic pressures, volatility, and development challenges faced by countries that have become important waypoints in the cocaine trade because of supply-side cocaine control efforts.

Enablers of Cocaine Trafficking: Evidence of the State-Crime Nexus from Contemporary Honduras

Honduras has been Central America’s focal point for drug trafficking towards the United States for years as the region’s main transit country. Recent court cases held in the United States have revealed the symbiotic relationship between state actors, business elites and drug trafficking organisations in contemporary Honduras, uncovering the blurred boundaries between the licit and illicit, the upper and underworld in the country. In this article, a drug-trafficking family – ‘Los Cachiros’ <em>transportista</em> (transport) group – is analysed as a case study with the aim of exploring state actors’ involvement in cocaine trafficking. Drawing on publicly available official judicial documents, this article explores the interpenetrations between formal and informal institutions in the country, arguing that state actors’ involvement in the drug trade in Honduras goes far beyond protection, and has evolved into a powerful network of public, private and criminal actors that has been able to capture the state’s basic sovereign functions with the aim of protecting and promoting their own private interests. In doing so, this article takes forward the state-crime nexus literature. Building on Hall’s (2018) networked approach in the study of illicit economies, this article proposes a conceptual framework to re-theorise the state-crime nexus as a transnationally networked set of relations, which considers the role of external states as actors of power within a country’s state-crime nexus. Looking at the unique relationship between Honduras and the United States, I argue that the concept is useful to understand the role of the United States as a transnational actor of power within the Honduran state-crime nexus.

Cocaine Trafficking in Asphalt Material: An Unusual Report of Cocaine in Seized Drugs

Cocaine is an illicit drug commonly found by law enforcement in seizures around the world. This paper describes a rare case of cocaine trafficking in asphaltic material, possibly in the form of cocaine hydrochloride. The material was found and seized in barrels during an operation conducted by the Brazilian Federal Police. The sample was initially extracted and resulted negative for cocaine via Scott’s Test, but further screening by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) confirmed the presence of cocaine. Afterwards, samples were subjected to quantitative GC-MS analysis. The concentrations of cocaine ranged from 0.11 to 1.53 ng/10 mg in the extracts of precipitate material found in the barrels. Considering that extraction efficiency was around 57.44%, it is estimated that 1.07 – 15.34% of barrel’s sediment weight was constituted by cocaine.

Cocaine trafficking between South America and Greece and methods of concealment

Cocaine trafficking between South America and Greece and methods of concealment

Coupling agent-based simulation and spatial optimization models to understand spatially complex and co-evolutionary behavior of cocaine trafficking networks and counterdrug interdiction

Despite more than 40 years of counterdrug interdiction efforts in the Western Hemisphere, cocaine trafficking, or ‘‘narco-trafficking’’, networks continue to evolve and increase their global reach. Counterdrug interdiction continues to fall short of performance targets, due to the adaptability of narco-trafficking networks and spatially complex constraints on interdiction operations (e.g., resources, jurisdictional). Due to these dynamics, current modeling approaches offer limited strategic insights into time-varying, spatially optimal allocation of counterdrug interdiction assets. This study presents coupled agent-based and spatial optimization models to investigate the co-evolution of counterdrug interdiction deployment and narco-trafficking networks’ adaptive responses. Increased spatially optimized interdiction assets were found to increase seizure volumes. However, the value per seized shipment concurrently decreased and the number of active nodes increased or was unchanged. Narco-trafficking networks adaptively responded to increased interdiction pressure by spatially diversifying routes and dispersing shipment volumes. Thus, increased interdiction pressure had the unintended effect of expanding the spatial footprint of narco-trafficking networks. This coupled modeling approach enabled the study of narco-trafficking network evolution while being subjected to varying interdiction pressure as a spatially complex adaptive system. Capturing such co-evolution dynamics is essential for simulating traffickers’ realistic adaptive responses to a wide range of interdiction scenarios.

Simultaneous determination of cocaine, cocaethylene, benzoylecgonine and ethyl glucuronide in hair from the cocaine and alcohol abusers by LC-MS/MS

In general, cocaine (COC) is hydrolyzed to benzoylecgonine (BZE) in the human body and the presence of COC and BZE in biological matrix such as blood, urine or hair is usually associated with the illegal use or exposure of COC. In addition, the additional metabolite, cocaethylene (CE), is produced when COC is consumed with alcohol. CE found in hair is a strong marker for the long term use of COC and alcohol. Recently, the COC trafficking and abuse have been slightly increased in Republic of Korea and the aim of this study was to find out the COC and alcohol consumption patterns in our country by quantifying COC, CE, BZE, and EtG in hair samples from COC-alcohol abusers by LC-MS/MS. Hair samples were examined to the determination of COC, CE, BZE, and EtG by LC-MS/MS. Mechanical pulverization of hair (30 mg), ultrasound-assisted extraction, and Oasis MAX solid-phase extraction techniques were used for obtaining improved extraction efficiency and effective sample purification. Target compounds were separated on Xselect HSS T3 C18 column (2.5 μm, 2.1 × 150 mm) and detected on polarity-switching electrospray ionization mode. Positive ionization mode was performed for COC and its metabolites, whereas EtG was operated in negative ionization mode. The method was validated for precision, accuracy, selectivity, recovery, matrix effect, and stability. Lower limit of quantification for COC, CE, BZE and EtG were 2, 10, 1, and 7 pg/mg, respectively. The calibration ranges were 2–200 pg/mg, 10–1000 pg/mg, 1–100 pg/mg, and 7–700 pg/mg, respectively. All the determination coefficients (r2) were greater than 0.9967. The intra-day and inter-day precision of the analytes was within 5.9%, 10.0%, 8.4%, and 14.4%, while the intra-day and inter-day accuracy was −6.1%–4.0%, −4.1%–9.7%, −4.4%–8.5%, and −9.3%–4.5%, respectively. The recoveries were 85.1–100.9%. The autosampler stability was 96.6–109.7% for target compounds. The developed method was successfully applied to forensic hair samples (n = 2). In one sample (262–3), only EtG was found with a concentration of 63.7 pg/mg while other sample (562-2) showed COC, CE, BZE, and EtG concentrations of 292.0 pg/mg, 118.5 pg/mg, 102.2 pg/mg, and 29.3 pg/mg, respectively. This study performed LC-MS/MS method development and optimization for determining COC consumption with alcohol and the method successfully applied to simultaneous qualification and quantification of CE and EtG as well as COC and BZE from hair. In conclusion, these results suggest that the method can be helpful for investigation of violent crimes involving COC and alcohol use. In future, more detailed abusing patterns of COC and alcohol use in Republic of Korea will be investigated as the number of positive sample accumulated.

Eugene Rivers and the responsibility of intellectuals

Eugene Rivers and the responsibility of intellectuals

Shifting landscape suitability for cocaine trafficking through Central America in response to counterdrug interdiction

Cocaine traffickers, or ‘narco-traffickers’, successfully exploit the heterogeneous landscapes of Central America for transnational smuggling. Narco-traffickers successfully adapt to disruptions from counterdrug interdiction efforts by spatially adjusting smuggling routes to evade detection, and by doing so bring collateral damages, such as deforestation, corruption, and violence, to new areas. This study is novel for its integration of landscape suitability analysis with criminological theory to understand the locations of these spatial adaptations by narco-traffickers as intentional, logical, and predictable choices based on the socio-environmental characteristics of Central America’s landscapes. Multi-level, mixed effects negative binomial regression models predict the suitability of landscapes for cocaine trafficking across 17 departamentos (the unit of analysis) in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama from 2007 to 2018. Informed by long-term research in the region, independent variables included proximity to roads, country borders, and international ports, indigenous territories, population density, and protected areas. The year of peak interdiction (measured by kg of cocaine seized) in each departamento was used to analyze spatial shifts in landscape suitability before and after maximum counterdrug interdiction pressure. We find that areas with lower population density and closer proximity to international borders became more suitable following peak interdiction—i.e, they are more likely to be sought out by traffickers seeking to avoid further disruptions from counternarcotic efforts. Additionally, indigenous territories were disproportionately exploited as cocaine trafficking routes following significant interdiction activities by law enforcement. While interdiction may reduce the suitability of targeted locations, it can also unintentionally increase the attractiveness of other locations. Our study pushes criminological theory through its application to a unique space/time context, and it advances land system science by considering landscape suitability for logistical rather than productive uses. Policy implications are clear. Since interdiction resources are limited relative to the overall amount of trafficking activity, knowing which landscape features are viewed as suitable by traffickers can in the short-term guide interdiction deployment strategies, and in the longer term build strategies to mitigate associated harms from trafficking where they are most likely.

Cocaine trafficking from non-traditional ports: examining the cases of Argentina, Chile and Uruguay.

This article presents the results of an exploratory study aimed to analyze the contexts in which the use of Non-Traditional ports of cocaine departure and counter-intuitive routes is prioritized, based on the experience of Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay. Moreover, we show that criminal organizations prioritize the Ports of Buenos Aires, San Antonio and Montevideo, and the counter-intuitive routes that lead to them, because they are spaces that generate incentives linked to the porosity of borders, the lack of control at the ports, and the possibility of exploiting the country’s lack of reputation for drug exportation to re-export cocaine undetected. This study constitutes a precedent for future research on the role of South American Southern Cone ports in cocaine trafficking. We can identify at least four emerging lines of research: 1. Cocaine trafficking from landlocked countries; 2. The role of the waterway Paraná-Paraguay; 3. The link between Non-Traditional ports of cocaine departure and new markets; and 4. Other Non-Traditional Ports of cocaine departure, which are not containerized.

Turning Over a New Leaf: A Subnational Analysis of ‘Coca Yes, Cocaine No’ in Bolivia

AbstractInternational pressure to suppress cocaine trafficking sustained decades of harsh drug laws in Bolivia against cocaleros (coca producers), thus affecting coca production for traditional consumption and for manufacturing illicit cocaine. These harsh drug laws caused social unrest in cocalero communities outside traditional coca zones. President Evo Morales, leader of the Movimiento al Socialismo (Movement toward Socialism, MAS) party, implemented ‘Coca Yes, Cocaine No’ (CYCN), a harm-reduction strategy that authorised ‘non-traditional’ farmers to cultivate legal coca and self-police production. This article compares CYCN outcomes in Bolivia's traditional and non-traditional coca regions and finds that strong cocalero organisations were vital to CYCN success in non-traditional areas. In contrast, organised resistance in traditional zones restricted CYCN success and added to regime instability in the lead-up to Morales’ forced resignation in 2019. Hence, while Morales harnessed state power to change drug policy, he was constrained by the rural grassroots organisations that brought him to power.

Security and Intelligence Challenges in Guinea-Bissau, Africa’s Narco-State and Issues Beyond Borders

This paper focuses on the international security concerns in relation to the disquiets in the tiny West African state, Guinea-Bissau since independence. The country famously known as “narco-state” faces formidable challenges with weak governance negatively impacting on intelligence services. Intelligence and security reform is a building block of democracy, but this has been habitually weakened in Guinea-Bissau during the last four decades. The state remains one of the most fragile nations in the world having had its security culture totally perturbed, occasioned by the military rule since independence from Portugal in 1974. With over nine coup d’états that have been staged with a number of state administrations toppled coupled with an avalanche of internal conflicts, and prevalence of transnational phenomena (cocaine trafficking), and other traditional state-based challenges, the African narco-state has been left with a very weak governance structure, security, and intelligence services. The study examines Guinea-Bissau’s intelligence culture drawing from secondary sources to understand how intelligence has been shaped and how intelligence has influenced the country in the context of poverty and authoritarianism. The study examines the various factors that have shaped the state’s intelligence, analyzing the transformation and reform in the state’s defense and security sector. It provides recommendations so the Bissau-Guinean intelligence community can be more effective. This study uses secondary sources and makes use of descriptive and content analyses techniques.

Narco-degradation: Cocaine trafficking’s environmental impacts in Central America’s protected areas

Central America exemplifies a dynamic unfolding around the world where transnational illicit economies are driving land use change. Despite an extensive network of protected areas, Central America has one of the highest deforestation rates in the world in the past 20 years. Some of this forest loss is due to the international cocaine trade, as drug trafficking organizations launder money into extractive economies and seek to control territories along their supply chain. While research documents land change from narcotrafficking in transit nodes, or narco-deforestation (e.g. Sesnie et al., 2017), less research exists examining other environmental impacts near cocaine transit nodes in protected areas and biodiversity hotspots, which we term “narco-degradation.” We conducted i) interviews and participatory mapping exercises with 65 actors working in protected areas in Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica and ii) 11 workshops with 76 protected areas managers to understand and document spatial concentration of different types of narco-degradation. Coded interviews and maps yield 500 narco-degradation activities occurring between 2000 and 2018. Our analysis reveals that narco-trafficking affects multiple ecosystems, not only forests, and that variations in narco-degradation types and intensities reflect differences in the three nodes’ transportation practices (air, land, maritime), their age and activity levels (emerging nodes, hotspots, and declining nodes), and their physical geography. In all three protected areas, narco-trafficking accelerates the conversion of natural resources into commodities (such as land, lumber, minerals, and fauna), their extraction, and entry into legal and illegal markets. We conclude by arguing that narco-degradation negatively and disproportionately impacts the livelihoods and governance structures of Indigenous and peasant communities living in and around Central America’s protected areas. These insights contribute an integrated socio-ecological analysis of the role of narco-capital and cocaine trafficking’s contribution to illicit global environmental change.

Study of cocaine seizures through spatial analysis

Cocaine trafficking and consumption continues to prosper despite the public policies that are in force in Brazil, despite its use for thousands of years, it is currently a public health problem. This study aimed to report the sociodemographic variables of individuals apprehended with cocaine and who were framed in Law n°. 11,343 of August 2006, in the municipality of Campina Grande, in 2017. It was a hybrid study, with a transversal, retrospective cut and ecological, with a quantitative approach. The neighborhood area variable was distributed in thematic maps and the spatial autocorrelation was measured by the Moran Global and Local indexes, which quantify the degree of autocorrelation. 210 cocaine seizures were recorded, of which 146 occurred in the municipality of Campina Grande, of these, only 94 presented all the data and were considered in this study. The months of September (n = 14) and October (n = 13) had the highest records of seizures. As for the pattern of use, crack in the yellowish stone form was predominant (n = 46), followed by cocaine hydrochloride in the form of white powder (n = 40). The profile of the individual apprehended with cocaine in the municipality was that of a young, single, unemployed and with low level of education. The predominant framework was drug trafficking (n = 75) according to Article nº. 33 of Law nº. 11,343 / 2006. The neighborhoods that registered the highest number of seizures were José Pinheiro (n = 15) and Pedregal (n = 8). The Moran General and Local indexis (p&gt; 0.05), did not show spatial dependence between neighboring neighborhoods, that is, there is no autocorrelation for the analyzed variable.

State Biopolitics, Illicit Regimes and Security in the Guatemala–Mexico Cross-border Region

ABSTRACT The article examines the way in which the State was replaced in the municipalities that are drug trafficking routes on the border between Guatemala and Mexico, by an illicit regime that represents a particular type of narco-governmentality, which implements bio-political practices that have repercussions on the border security. Due to the institutional and financial weakness of the Guatemalan government, it has little presence on its borders. This is taken advantage of by local and transnational organized crime dedicated to cocaine trafficking, which has replaced the State and replicated its hierarchical form of control and power over the territory and its population, in order to generate a situation of narco-governmentality. In order to maintain power, they use biopolitical practices such as the use of extreme violence against other criminal groups and government security forces, which seek to put the sovereignty of their territory at risk. In addition, they apply a state of siege in their controlled territories, all in order to avoid arrest, ensure their survival, and maintain high levels of profit. As a result, the security of some border municipalities that are routes is very fragile. In this context, improving border security requires to move from a national security approach to one of citizen security.