Drug Trafficking and Organized Crime in the Americas

DRUG TRAFFICKING AND
ORGANIZED CRIME
IN THE AMERICAS:
MAJOR TRENDS IN THE
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY by Bruce Bagley
What are the major trends that have characterized the evolution of illicit drug trafficking and
organized crime (organized criminal networks) in the Americas over the last quarter of a
century? What have been the principal transformations or adaptations – economic, political, and
organizational – that have taken place within the region’s vast illegal drug economy during the
first decade of the twenty-first century? This essay identifies eight key trends or patterns that
typify the ongoing transformation of the drug trade and the organized criminal groups it has
spawned as of mid-2011. They are: 1) The increasing globalization of drug consumption;
2) The limited or “partial victories” and unintended consequences of the U.S.-led ‘war on
drugs,’ especially in the Andes; 3) The proliferation of areas of drug cultivation and of
drug smuggling routes throughout the hemisphere (so-called “balloon effects”); 4) The
dispersion and fragmentation of organized criminal groups or networks within countries
and across sub-regions (“cockroach effects”); 5) The failure of political reform and
state-building efforts (deinstitutionalization effects); 6) The inadequacies or failures
of U.S. domestic drug and crime control policies (demand control failures); 7) The
ineffectiveness of regional and international drug control policies (regulatory failures);
and 8) The growth in support for harm reduction, decriminalization, and
legalization policy alternatives (legalization debate). Read PDF file