Brokers, More Than Mexico’s ‘Cartels,’ Key to Precursor Flow
Jerónimo** arrived at the restaurant wearing a rooster cap, a black T-shirt, and denim pants. A semi-automatic pistol was holstered…
How Fentanyl is Synthesized in Mexico
In 2018, US and Mexican authorities began tracking several chemists working for the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico that were trying…
Size and Scope of the Meth Industry in Mexico
Methamphetamine is the largest synthetic drug industry in the world and the most consumed stimulant in the United States, far…
Making Synthetic Drugs: A Primer*
The process of making synthetic drugs involves various steps, but it must include a key ingredient called a precursor. For…
Precursors and Mexico’s Synthetic Drug Trade: Summary and Major Findings
Synthetic drugs have changed organized crime. As opposed to most legacy drugs — which rely on plants, harvests, favorable weather,…
Peace Leaders in Putumayo, Colombia Bet Their Lives on Coca Crop Substitution
Community leaders in Colombia’s Putumayo department have historically supported coca substitution programs as part of peace processes aimed at resolving…
The Inescapable Prison of Barrio 18 in Honduras
Entering Barrio 18, the powerful Central American street gang, can seem like a violent rebirth. Members get a new family,…
Mexican Drug Trafficking Organizations’ New Marijuana Strategies
In 2010, the RAND Corporation said it was “noncontroversial” to declare that at least 50 percent of the marijuana consumed…
As Marijuana Fades, Sinaloa’s Organized Crime Does Not
In Mexico’s Golden Triangle, where the northwest states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa converge to form the country’s epicenter of…
The Chapitos’ Monopoly on Drug Sales in Culiacán, Sinaloa
Local drug sales in Sinaloa’s capital city may be a small-time business. Even so, it’s controlled by one of the…