Drug trafficking in South America: an analysis of violence in the networks of the drug trafficking logistics chain in South America (2010 - 2015)

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2176-8099.pcso.2021.172027

Keywords:

Trafficking, Conflicts, America, Cocaine

Abstract

Armed conflicts linked to the activity of drug trafficking in South America have different spatial patterns. These spatial configurations are dependent on the production chain of cocaine and its derivatives, which sometimes function as sources of financing for the so-called new wars. The relationship between natural resources and conflicts has still been little studied in the South American context, so this paper aims to describe and analyze the spatial configuration of narco-conflicts in South America. To this end, we use the perspective of the political economy of conflict, believing that there is a spatial relationship between specific productive spaces in the production chain and the lethality and typology of conflicts. Also, we argue that the spaces of distribution and consumption of cocaine are specifically those that present the highest levels of intensity and lethality of such conflicts. With regard to methods, quantitative data on drug seizures (UNODC) and the number of homicides by region (UCDP) were collected. Based on these data, a thematic cartography was constructed, in which we analyzed the logistical networks of drug trafficking in the region.

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Author Biographies

  • Adriano Santos de Sousa, Universidade Federal de Goiás

    Mestrando no Programa de Pós-Graduação em Sociologia da Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG), E-mail: adrianosou94@gmail.com

  • Matheus Hoffmann Pfrimer, Universidade Federal de Goiás

    Professor Adjunto de Relações Internacional da Faculdade de Ciências Sociais - UFG, pesquisador associado ao Núcleo de Estudos Globais/UFG, E-mail:matheuspfrimer@hotmail.com 

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Published

2021-12-22

How to Cite

Sousa, A. S. de ., & Pfrimer, M. H. (2021). Drug trafficking in South America: an analysis of violence in the networks of the drug trafficking logistics chain in South America (2010 - 2015). Plural, 28(2), 257-271. https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2176-8099.pcso.2021.172027