Drug trafficking routes are transforming in Latin America

Buenos AiresMore than fifty years have passed since the start of the so-called "war on drugs" launched by Richard Nixon's administration from Washington. Now, Latin America is experiencing a new wave of extreme violence related to drug trafficking. If, for decades, the business had been concentrated mainly in Mexico and Colombia, in the hands of large cartels such as Sinaloa or Medellín, today the reality is very different: firstly, new countries have joined the drug trafficking network, and apart from that, criminal groups have divided, multiplied and multiplied. record cocaine production in the world. In addition, the proliferation of new synthetic drugs, such as fentanyl, or the coronavirus pandemic itself, have transformed the dynamics of the business, now addressed by the Donald Trump administration as a problem of international terrorism, or of narcoterrorism.

The most paradigmatic case of this new reality is that of Ecuador, which is on track to close 2025 as the most violent year in its history, with more than 4,600 murders in the first half of the year alone, representing a 47% increase compared to the same period in 2024, the year in which it was already the country with the most. According to the latest report by the Crisis group, published in March of this year, Ecuador combines several factors that have allowed it to consolidate itself as a strategic hub for drug trafficking: Poorly trained security forces, a large port like Guayaquil, and a geographical proximity to Colombia's cocaine plantation areas, where the raw material is found. Costa Rica and Guatemala have also seen an increase in violence and insecurity, as, along with Ecuador, they belong to the so-called "Pacific route," through which vessels depart for the United States—where demand for cocaine remains stable, with the market saturated—; to Europe, where consumption is increasing; and to new markets in Africa, Asia, and Oceania.

Further to the center and south of the region, Bolivia is the other major cocaine production center. The drug is transported to Paraguay, from where it travels down the Paraná River to Argentina, where the ports of Rosario and Buenos Aires also serve as departure points to Europe. In a conversation with ARA, Christopher Newton, an Insight Crime researcher and expert on the southeastern part of the continent, explains that the coronavirus pandemic was an important factor in expanding the ports from which the drug is shipped: "The decline in international trade, particularly the closure of the port of Santos (São Paulo), caused a diversion, as well as in Uruguay and Argentina."

Regarding the internal nature of organized crime, drug trafficking is no longer just made up of hierarchical organizations that are dismantled when the leaders are captured, but rather networks of suppliers that subcontract every stage of the process. Carlos Pérez Ricart, a researcher at the Center for Economic Research and Teaching in Mexico, explains in ARA. the rise of synthetic drugs as one of the causes of this change: Although cocaine still makes up the bulk of the business, drugs like fentanyl have led to what he identifies as a process of "deterritorialization," since the production of these substances is no longer tied to the land, nor the organizations to family logic: "It's a very different business. The organizations are smaller, they are smaller, professionals in the use of violence, apart from the fact that its members—who fail to consolidate long-term leadership positions—are increasingly younger." All these factors lead Pérez Ricart to speak of "democratization" in drug production.

Inequality and extreme violence

Likewise, the Crisis Group report points to high levels of inequality within the business pyramid: at the top, there are few actors, who are the ones who see the economic gains. At the bottom, dealing with the most brutal violence, and often in contexts of poverty, there is a large group of local gangs that charge for their work with more drugs and weapons, which they in turn use to threaten and extort the communities they belong to, something that generates "invisible urban borders," or neighborhoods that are considered invisible; all of this with the necessary complicity of some state officials: from security forces to judges, prosecutors, and politicians: "In Latin America, without the state apparatus, there is no organized crime," concludes Pérez Ricart.

While, Donald Trump renews his commitment to the "war on drugs" launched by Richard Nixon more than 50 years ago. But the world—apart from the substances and routes—has changed, and today the President of the United States chooses to classify drug trafficking organizations as "terrorists," a label that allows Washington to apply the principle of extraterritoriality, that is, to act beyond its borders.

We've seen this in recent weeks with the attacks on Venezuelan vessels in international waters in the Caribbean Sea, resulting in the still-unsolved deaths of 15 people who have also not been identified. "We are entering uncharted territory," says Pérez Ricart, warning of the dangerous precedent these attacks set, not only because of the "disregard for the law" and "impunity," but also because of the "hegemonic logic" the United States is imposing on Latin America: "It's a war without fronts that only widens the gaps between them."