Why in the News?

The Presidential candidate of Ecuador, Fernando Villavicencio famously called enemy of drug cartels was assassinated allegedly by organized gangs linked to narco-trafficking in India.

News in Detail:

1. Ecuador is a relatively peaceful country with 18 million population in south America.
2. Located between the major producers of cocaine- Colombia and Peru, it is facing violent crimes due to the activities of the drug cartels recording nearly 4800 murders last year, with drug-related violence surpassing conflict-caused deaths in both Afghanistan and Iraq. 
3. The Drugs cartels operate in the country to ship the drugs to high-demand areas of North America and Europe.
4. Two international crime organizations – Mexican cartel and Balkan cartel have recruited local gangs to build drug networks and control supply chains and have changed prisons into operating bases and ports into fighting zones.
5. Since cartels have built a parallel system, the issue of corruption in the government has also surged.

6. The US forms the largest global market for illicit drugs and the geographical proximity of Latin America serves as the closest source of illicit drugs and the only source of cocaine.
7. Increase of drug use in Europe has resulted in establishment of new trafficking networks that use Argentina, Brazil, and Venezuela as transshipment points.

Ideal reasons for existence of drug cartels in Latin America:

1. Growing middle-class population

Growing demand for drugs accompanied by the growing middle class with increasing per capita income.

2. Robust trade flows

Economic integration and democratization across Latin America that has enabled robust trade flows within the region, used by the drug traffickers as well.

3. Weak governmental institutions

Countries with weak governmental institutions including police (e.g.: Venezuela) is used as a breeding ground for drug cartels, making the country vulnerable to corruption and threat of violence.

4. Corruption

Corruption at governmental level perpetuates the issue of drug trafficking as persons from criminal organization can enter the political system and use resources to facilitate the illicit drug trafficking.

Way Forward:

1. Collaborative border security strategies including pre-clearance of goods and people from trusted sources.
2. Joint binational inspection facilities to more efficiently carry out inspection at the transshipment facilities.
3. Immigration reforms to run a Temporary workers program that to channelise law-abiding migrants to access economic opportunities in legal ways.
4. Capacity building in determination of criminal behaviour and deter the violence affecting public security and dipping citizens’ confidence in the legitimacy of the state.

Source URL: Cartel politics: The Hindu Editorial on an assassination and Ecuador’s fight against drugs - The Hindu