Narcotraffic and power. A field of dispute over legitimacy

Abstract

When transnational narcotraffic networks get established in a specific territory so that they can exist as an illegal project due to the prohibition context, they have to deploy a series of strategies in order to guarantee complicity, social indifference or intimidation. These strategies allow narcotraffic networks to paralyze any citizen attempt to hindrance their activities. This article addresses the world of narcotraffic as social space of struggle over the legitimate monopoly of an illegal project. In order to do so, strategies and exercise of power of transnational networks located in two Latin-American territories (Baja California, México and Valle del Cauca, Colombia) are identified and analyzed.