Narco-Terrorism

Contents: Preface. 1. Introduction. 2. Narcoterrorism in Afghanistan. 3. The drug war and terrorism. 4. Narcoterrorism and India’s security. 5. Drug trafficking and the financing of terrorism. 6. Narcoterrorism and the long reach of U.S. Law enforcement. 7. Illegal drug trade. Bibliography. Index.

Narco-terrorism is a term coined by former President Fernando Belaunde Terry of Peru in 1983 when describing terrorist-type attacks against his nation’s anti-narcotics police. In its original context, narco-terrorism is understood to mean the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation, and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws by the systematic threat or use of such violence. Pablo Escobar’s violence in his dealings with the Colombian government is probably one of the best known and best documented examples of narco-terrorism. In order words, ‘narco-terrorism’ may refer a wide range of situations, including violence perpetrated by drug traffickers to further and protect their economic interests, the resort to drug trafficking and terrorist tactics by state actors, the use of drug trafficking or directly and indirectly related activities by terrorist organizations to fund their operations, cooperation between drug traffickers and terrorist organizations for mutual gains, and the merger of drug trafficking organizations and terrorist organizations to carry out both drug trafficking and terrorist activities.