Welcome to this weekend’s Non-State Update. It’s been one hell of a week in foreign policy between the horrific Peshawar massacre, the American-Cuban rapprochement, the Russian ruble collapse, and North Korea threatening movie theaters. Among all of those issues, there has been plenty of drugs and thugs news, though. Below is a list of some of the best news and analysis articles from this week, just in time for the weekend break. Like the rest of Drugs and Thugs Blog, the topics addressed are terrorism, insurgency, transnational criminal organizations, and narcotics trafficking.
How Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel Fed US Heroin Market: First off, via InSight Crime, a translated article from El Universal by Alejandra S. Inzunza and Jose Luis Pardo on the US heroin market. Although 90% of the global heroin supply comes from Afghanistan, the majority of the US supply comes from Mexico and is trafficked by Mexican drug cartels. At the top of this market is the Sinaloa Cartel, especially in its distribution hub, New York.
Obama’s Strategy for Defeating ISIS is the Only Viable Option. It Can Work: Next, Joseph Becker at the Small Wars Journal with a piece on the Administration’s much attacked policy on ISIS. Becker examines the issue from the political and military angles. This article excellently analyzes the major issues with US involvement in Iraq and Syria going forward.
Catch and Release in the Land of Two Rivers: Craig Whiteside at War on the Rocks has a great piece on the rise of ISIS, most importantly focused on the role that US prisons in Iraq played in the organization’s development. History matters.
Has Support for Colombia’s Peace Talks Finally Failed?: At Foreign Policy’s Shadow Government blog, Jose R. Cardenas has an interesting piece on the continuing Colombia-FARC peace talks. Major considerations still remain, but this is a huge issue to follow next year in the fields of insurgency and narcotics trafficking.
Taliban Attacks in Afghanistan Surge as Coalition Ends Combat Mission: Next, Bill Roggio at The Long War Journal has a piece on the increased frequency of Taliban attacks in recent months. The Afghan security forces continue to take high losses as Taliban control spreads into new provinces.
Cutting Off the Money: At the Line of Steel blog, a post on a potentially major change in US policy towards Iraq and Syria. The US might have cut off support for northern rebel groups, although much is unclear. In the fight against ISIS and the Syrian regime, facts become difficult to verify, but this could be a major development.
Afghanistan: The Making of a Narco State: From Matthieu Aikins at Rolling Stone, a long read on heroin trafficking in Afghanistan. This article accurately demonstrates the fascinating history of the Afghan poppy market and the current distribution of trafficking power. The photos are truly amazing, as well.
Bosnia: Eight Held Over Drug Smuggling in Operation Oscar: At OCCRP, news that a recent police raid has resulted in the arrests of eight drug traffickers. Most encouragingly, the raid occurred with cooperation between Bosnian and Serbian authorities. This is a good sign for Balkan security.
FinCEN Pooh-Poohs Knowing Your Customer: Money Jihad’s got an interesting commentary piece on a recent FinCEN announcement on money service businesses (MSBs). FinCEN has encouraged banks to continue business with MSBs, in light of industry fears of regulatory crackdown on hawala services. Money Jihad points out the major concerns with this announcement, but D&TB does not view this as a significant change in the counter-terrorism financing framework. Regardless, it is an interesting article.
Hello, I’m Calling From La Mafia: Finally, a podcast episode from NPR’s Planet Money on Honduran gangs and their extortion of local businesses. Fascinating stuff, and surprisingly great access with MS-13 gangs in Honduras. It’s definitely worth a listen.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the weekend.
For comments, thoughts, concerns, criticism, or submissions to D&TB, please comment below, email me at conormlarkin@gmail.com, or follow me on Twitter @ConorMLarkin.
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