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The Drug Kingpin Decapitation Strategy in Guatemala: Successes and Shortcomings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 August 2019

Charles D. Brockett*
Affiliation:
Charles D. Brockett is professor emeritus of political science at Sewanee: The University of the South.

Abstract

This study analyzes whether Guatemalan success with the kingpin decapitation strategy of bringing major drug traffickers to justice has accomplished its greater objectives of reducing cocaine trafficking and drug-related violence. The analysis finds little evidence of success for the first objective in Guatemala but notable success for the second. One of the few studies to examine the application of this strategy outside Mexico and Colombia, its findings are interpreted in light of their contrasting experiences. The article provides an overview of drug trafficking in Guatemala and concise studies of two of its most important organizations targeted by the kingpin strategy.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© University of Miami 2019 

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