The illegal drug trade in Latin America concerns primarily the production and sale of cocaine and cannabis, including the export of these banned substances to the United States and Europe. The coca cultivation is concentrated in the Andes of South America, particularly in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia; this is the world's only source region for ...

Drug cartels form with the purpose of controlling the supply of the illegal drug trade and maintaining prices at a high level. The formations of drug cartels are common in Latin American countries. Rivalries between multiple drug cartels cause them to …

Jun 26, 2024 · Marijuana is the most widely used illicit drug in the world with cocaine following closely behind. Even though both are currently produced in the region, cocaine is endemic to South America.

Oct 24, 2019 · Mexico's brutal drug war claims thousands of lives every year, as powerful trafficking groups battle it out for territory and influence. These cartels control vast areas of the country and are...

Drug barons of Colombia refer to some of the most notable drug lords which operate in illegal drug trafficking in Colombia. Several of them, notably Pablo Escobar, were long considered among the world's most dangerous and most wanted men by U.S. intelligence.

May 31, 2017 · From opium to marijuana to cocaine, a variety of substances have been illegally imported, sold and distributed throughout U.S. history, often with devastating consequences. During the mid-1800s,...

Jan 25, 2025 · Under the leadership of Joaquín Guzmán Loera—commonly known as El Chapo (“Shorty”), the Sinaloa cartel emerged as one of the world’s most powerful drug cartels in the early 21st century; according to various reports at the time, it accounted for the majority of illegal drugs in the United States.

By trafficking South American heroin and increasing production of white powder heroin in Mexico, Mexican DTOs have been able to enter the lucrative white powder heroin markets in the Midwest and Northeast.

Dec 12, 2024 · Traditionally, cartels controlled limited territories and specialised on a single product, usually cocaine. The new criminal elites now traffic multiple products across extensive markets and regions. The Latin American transnational criminal landscape is undergoing a profound, violent evolution.

Jan 11, 2024 · With global cocaine consumption on the rise, production at record levels and the dissolution of the cocaine-funded FARC rebel army in Colombia, the rules of engagement in South and Central America have changed.