Transnational Organized Crime and Terrorism

Abstract

This article deals with the complex relationships that exist among drug traffickers, insurgent guerrilla groups, paramilitary forces, peasants, and the government's military and police agencies in Colombia and the use of violence and terrorism among them to achieve disparate ends. Colombia was chosen as a case study because of its importance as a key source country for coca leaf and as an incubator for organized crime. The article also focuses on the narco-terrorist nexus, which for years has threatened the sovereignty of the country, and on strategies and institutional initiatives to combat drug production, trafficking, and terrorism.