Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation: Drug Trafficking and the Law in Central America

This book explores one distinctly understudied aspect of the international drug trade: the experiences of "bridge countries," that is, states that may neither consume nor produce sizable amounts of illegal drugs but that lie on favoured paths carved out between centres of production and key consumer markets. In the 1980s the Central American republics became critically important to the international drug trade and have remained so ever since, with illegal drugs continually transiting en route to North American, European, and various emerging markets. Central America is particularly well suited for one of the first comparative studies of bridge-state trafficking, because its trade in drugs has long been emphatically multipolar. Significant drug transit has occurred not only across the territories but in the skies above each state and through offshore Pacific and Caribbean waters. By studying Central American drug trafficking, we offer a first examination of social, political, and economic phenomena of extraordinary importance to an often overlooked region of the world. Certainly, by the 1990s massive inflows and outflows of cocaine had come to affect profoundly each small republic. Nevertheless, no sound empirical foundation has yet been compiled, much less have theoretical explanations been offered, to illuminate the manner in which drug traffickers and law enforcement have contended with one another in Central America. One leading authority on drugs has written, "The topic of transnational smuggling attracts a good deal of rhetoric but not much that could be called research." Another recent work declares, "Although studies of drug use are numerous and our understanding of local drug markets is growing, our understanding of the multimillion-dollar business of international drug smuggling is considerably less well developed." This book thus aims to fill a gap in the literature by using extensive primary and secondary research to elucidate the dynamics of the Central American drug trade.

Table of Contents:
Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction: Exploring Central American Drug Trafficking 1 Central America and the International Trade in Drugs 2 Belize 3 Costa Rica 4 Guatemala 5 Honduras 6 Panama Conclusion Table of Cases Selected Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Julie Marie Bunck is Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville and the author of Fidel Castro and the Quest for a Revolutionary Culture in Cuba (Penn State, 1994). Michael Ross Fowler is Professor of Political Science at the University of Louisville, USA. Together with Julie Marie Bunck, he is also the author of Law, Power, and the Sovereign State: The Evolution and Application of the Concept of Sovereignty (Penn State, 1995).

Review :
“There is nothing like Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation in drug-control literature. It covers a region, Central America, that other studies deal with peripherally, if at all. It encompasses a span of time, from ca. 1980 to the present, that will command much attention. The authors make their subject a compelling story, one that is essential to an understanding of recent and contemporary Central America. Julie Bunck and Michael Fowler's exceptional study will appeal to both students and scholars in various disciplines, including history, political science, sociology, and criminal justice.” —William O. Walker III, author of Drug Control in the Americas “Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation fills a glaring gap in the voluminous drug literature. It will instantly become the reference book for understanding the role of Central America in the international drug trade and the profound impact of the trade on the region’s countries. Anyone interested in drug trafficking in Central America will find this book to be essential reading. And anyone who fails to cite it when writing about drug trafficking in Central America will provoke raised eyebrows.” —Peter Andreas, Brown University “In Drug Trafficking and the Law in Central America: Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation, Julie Marie Bunck and Michael Ross Fowler—professors of political science at the University of Louisville—provide those interested in Central America, the drug trade and U.S. foreign assistance in the region with an invaluable tool for understanding the causes and implications of drug trafficking through an analysis of what they term the ‘bridge countries’ of Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama. . . . Understanding the drug trade phenomenon through these ‘bridge’ states required the authors to develop an innovative research approach that was both wide-ranging and deep. They used every imaginable source of data, ranging from primary and secondary articles and books to court records from the United States and the ‘bridge’ nations and scores of personal interviews over many years to produce an impressive book on a subject that by its nature is opaque: transnational organized crime.” —Americas Quarterly “Encyclopaedic in its coverage and size, Julie Marie Bunck and Michael Ross Fowler’s book is an important and impressive examination of ‘just how drugs have moved across the region and with what consequences’ (p.8). . . . “. . . Bribes, Bullets, and Intimidation is a major accomplishment, and indeed one that I am sure will remain the authoritative source on this subject for a long time to come.” —Charles D. Brockett Journal of Latin American Studies “This well-researched book makes a praiseworthy contribution to the literature on drug trafficking in Central America. It will appeal to academics, policy-makers and students, as well as researchers and activists who are interested in international security . . . and Latin American studies.” —Kai Chen Bulletin of Latin American Research