Trafficking Troubles in Latin America

This book explores the trafficking of persons for the purpose of exploitation and illicit drug trafficking in Latin America and the Caribbean. Trafficking in persons (TIP) is a lucrative criminal activity that is of major concern to the United States and the international community. Countries in Latin America serve as source, transit, and destination countries for trafficking victims. Drug trafficking is viewed as a primary threat to citizen security and U.S. interests in Latin America and the Caribbean despite decades of anti-drug efforts by the United States and partner governments. The production and trafficking of popular illicit drugs--cocaine, marijuana, opiates, and methamphetamine--generate a multi-billion dollar black market in which Latin American criminal and terrorist organizations thrive.