[en] Drug trafficking is a growing security problem in Latin America, specifically for Mexico and Colombia. This paper aims to identify the role of the Mexican and Colombian ‘criminal diasporas’ in the four different phases of drug trafficking: cultivation, production, transit and distribution. This paper introduces the notion of ‘criminal diaspora’ to unpack the connection between Mexican and Colombian criminal organisations and their respective migrants overseas involved in the narcotics trade. The notion of ‘criminal diaspora’ is useful in these case studies because it highlights the ethnic, identity and diasporic elements that characterise the migrant populations involved in Mexican and Colombian drug trade.
The paper concludes that the role of the diasporic members in the whole process depends on their legal status, level of education and hierarchical status inside their respective drug trafficking organisation.
Disciplines :
Political science, public administration & international relations