BLUE WATER AND WHITE POWDER: TRENDS IN MARITIME NARCOTICS TRAFFICKING IN THE GREATER CARIBBEAN

This thesis argues that drug traffickers and law enforcement are caught in a cycle of competitive adaptation and that traffickers have consistently adapted to law enforcement pressure. It uses a history of cocaine trafficking from 1970 to 2000 and a case study on “narco-submarines” to provide both a macro and micro view of the competition between law enforcement and drug traffickers in the Caribbean. This thesis finds that since its inception, cocaine interdiction has been largely ineffective despite the major increases in law enforcement resources from the 1970s to the 1990s, including the use of the U.S. military to support counternarcotics operations. Interdiction has been ineffective because traffickers can rapidly adapt to law enforcement pressure by changing their smuggling methods and shifting their routes.
Captain, United States Marine Corps
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