Drug Cartels Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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In modern commercial usage, the term cartel draws from the German word Kartell, which has earlier uses derived from Latin, French, and Italian. In the conventional sense, a cartel refers to formal agreements among business associations, or firms, to control production, fix prices, limit competition, and/or segment markets (by product, clientele, or territory). Cartels are often considered to be illegal because of antitrust laws and regulations that seek to restrict monopolistic practices.

The term drug cartel is frequently used to describe organized crime syndicates involved in the production, distribution, and sale of psychotropic substances—including heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and synthetic drugs—that have been prohibited in many countries since the early twentieth century. While such organizations, also known as drug trafficking organizations (DTOs), have existed in multiple contexts, the term drug cartel came into vogue primarily in reference to Latin American DTOs in the later part of the twentieth century. Such DTOs typically employ their substantial capacity for corruption and violence to advance their goals.

Among the earliest DTOs to earn the cartel label were two major trafficking organizations based in the cities of Medellín and Cali in Colombia. The Medellín cartel, for example, achieved such power and wealth that Pablo Escobar, its main leader in the 1980s, was elected as an alternate in the federal legislature in 1982 and was named by Forbes magazine as one of the world’s ten richest men (#7) in 1989.

After Escobar’s death in 1993 and the Medellín cartel’s subsequent downfall, the Cali cartel rose to prominence in the 1990s. The Cali cartel was developed by Gilberto Rodríguez Orejuela and José Santacruz Londoño, who operated their organization through independent groups or “cells.” Each cell had specialized functions related to some specific aspect of the organization, such as production and distribution, finance and money laundering, protection and enforcement, or legal and political influence.

As the Medellín and Cali cartels fell into decline, other cartels began to develop elsewhere in the region, with substantial transnational supply chain networks. Among these were organizations that rose to prominence in major cities in Mexico, notably the Guadalajara cartel in the 1970s and 1980s; the Juárez cartel, the Tijuana cartel, and the gulf cartel in the 1990s; and the Sinaloa cartel (also known as “the Federation”) in the 2000s. Substantial trafficking organizations also developed in Brazil, where Luiz Fernando da Costa operated a major DTO within a larger gang network known as the Red Command (Comando Vermelho) until his capture in 2001. Like several other well-known drug kingpins elsewhere, da Costa continued orchestrating criminal activities from his jail cell until he was extradited to the United States in 2008.

In reference to DTOs, many experts avoid the use of the term cartel, because DTOs demonstrate significant differences from cartels in the conventional business world. Notably, despite their frequent efforts to limit the entry of new competitors, most DTOs do not deliberately conspire to maximize prices. Moreover, while DTOs frequently engage in other cartel-like behaviors, such as negotiating territories, such collusion requires substantial organizational coherence. Cooperation among DTOs is especially difficult to achieve in the face of intense competitive pressures, shifting market trends, and law enforcement efforts.

Bibliography:

Astorga, Luis. Seguridad,Traficantes y Militares: El Poder y la Sombra. Mexico City: Tusquets, 2007.
Donnelly, Robert A., and David A. Shirk. Police and Public Security in Mexico. San Diego: Trans-Border Institute, 2009.
Levenstein, Margaret C., and Valerie Y. Suslow. “Cartels.” In The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, volume 1, edited by Steven N. Durlauf and Lawrence E. Blume, 698–699. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.