Latin America: Europe’s War on Drugs Should Be Different

Latin America: Europe’s War on Drugs Should be Different

Flows of illicit drugs from Latin America to Europe have caused bloodshed on both sides of the Atlantic. In this excerpt from the Watch List 2025 – Spring Update, Crisis Group explores how the EU and member states can focus their counter-narcotics fight on curbing violence.

This is the first of two releases of a report on the mutation of drug trafficking in the region by Bloomberg Línea. To read the second part you can click here. World drug trafficking, with Latin America as the protagonist, “is more resistant and difficult to fight than ever,” due to the fragmentation of criminal networks and their ability to stay afloat, despite the capture of well-known bosses. However, governments continue to be betting on “ha…