War on drugs has helped cocaine traffickers conquer swathes of Central America, study suggests

Almost 20 per cent of US drug control spending goes on attempts to intercept shipments, with a ‘dismal’ success rate
The Independent (UK)
Monday, April 1, 2019

A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, which simulated the complex dynamics between drug traffickers and US drug control efforts in Central America, suggests the efforts of successive US governments have led to a “cat-and-mouse arms race”, in which traffickers have massively expanded their networks of operations in ever greater efforts to out-manoeuvre authorities. The model demonstrated that narco-trafficking is as widespread and difficult to eradicate as it is because of interdiction, and increased interdiction will continue to spread traffickers into new areas, allowing them to continue to move drugs north.