From International Drug Trafficking to Community Violence: Lessons from the Caribbean

  • Adam Baird

    Press/Media: Expert Comment

    Period18 Aug 2021

    Media contributions

    1

    Media contributions

    • TitleFrom International Drug Trafficking to Community Violence: Lessons from the Caribbean
      Degree of recognitionInternational
      Media name/outletUNIDIR
      Media typeWeb
      Country/TerritorySwitzerland
      Date18/08/21
      DescriptionMy recent research with Dylan Kerrigan and Matt Bishop examines the explosion of lethal gang violence in the 1990s and 2000s in Belize and in Trinidad, a period when these countries became important drug transshipment countries. Both are porous geostrategic transit points to US and European destinations but have comparatively minor drug markets themselves.

      Our research shows that low-income communities in transit points of the global drug supply chain are rarely the target markets for drugs, but their proximity and vulnerability means that they are affected collaterally. This is what we mean when we claim that residues – coined by Bishop - from the trade, including drugs, firearms, and ammunition, filter into local communities resulting in devastating consequences.
      URLhttps://unidir.org/commentary/international-drug-trafficking-community-violence-lessons-caribbean
      PersonsAdam Baird