Mali mainly, 2012 coup, drugs & more

[ganulv]

Trafficking on this level will spread its tentacles into the power structures of a nation. The big money is in the transshipment to Europe. Domestic markets for cocaine and opiates, or lack thereof, may be a clue into the nature of the trade.

Your comment came to mind while listen to an NPR piece today—the particularly relevant bit begins around 2:10.

[bourbon]

Your comment came to mind while listen to an NPR piece today—the particularly relevant bit begins around 2:10.

It is an issue that is really in need of greater study. The best material I have read was by a French NGO called Geopolitical Drugs Watch (Observatoire Geopolitique des Drogues) that in the 1990’s would publish an annual report called “The World Geopolitics of Drugs”. I think they were tied to either the French government or the EU, but they got their funding pulled and were shut down.