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…
Executive Summary and Major Findings
Marijuana has long been one of the most profitable illicit crops in various parts of rural Mexico, and one of…
Cocaine Brokers: The Flexible Backbone of the ’Ndrangheta Trafficking Empire
Rocco Morabito could see beachfront bars from his hotel room in João Pessoa, in the Brazilian state of Paraíba. He…
The ‘Ndrangheta Connection to Colombia’s Paramilitaries
Salvatore Mancuso, one of the most powerful paramilitary commanders in Colombia, and Giorgio Sale, a well-connected Italian businessman, helped each…