narcostate
Drug-controlled country
A narcostate is a country whose government is significantly controlled or corrupted by drug trafficking organizations.
The term suggests that narcotics money has so thoroughly penetrated political institutions that the state effectively serves cartel interests: Critics called the country a narcostate after evidence emerged of presidential ties to traffickers.
The label is often applied polemically to delegitimize governments.
Illegal distribution of controlled substances
- cartelsCollusive business alliances
- smugglingIllegal covert transport
- kingpinsDominant figures in organizations
- drug lordsCriminal trafficking kingpins
cocaine · heroin · trafficking routes · transshipment · drug mules · border crossings · contraband · poppy fields
State-sponsored looting system
- autocracyRule by one
- oligarchyRule by few
- shadow governmentConcealed parallel authority structure
- puppet regimeGovernment controlled externally
Corrupt payment for influence
- money launderingDisguising criminal proceeds' origins
- graftIllicit political gain
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
- kickbacksIllegal return payments
cronyism · payoffs · collusion · malfeasance · protection money · police corruption · shell companies · offshore accounts
Murders of important people
- kidnappingsForcible taking of persons
- hitmenPaid assassins
- sicariosHired killers for cartels
- turf warsStruggles for domain control
paramilitaries · enforcers · massacres · torture · disappearances · beheadings · mass graves · bloodshed
Absence of governing rules
- impunityFreedom from consequences
- anarchyDisorder from absent authority
- collapseSudden structural failure
- displacementRemoval from usual location
refugee flows · humanitarian crisis · civil unrest · institutional decay · ungovernable · migration · destabilization · chaos
drug trafficking
Illegal distribution of controlled substances
- cartelsCollusive business alliances
- smugglingIllegal covert transport
- kingpinsDominant figures in organizations
drug lords · cocaine · heroin · trafficking routes · transshipment · drug mules · border crossings · contraband · poppy fields · fentanyl
kleptocracy
State-sponsored looting system
- autocracyRule by one
- oligarchyRule by few
- shadow governmentConcealed parallel authority structure
puppet regime · territorial control · impunity · electoral manipulation
bribery
Corrupt payment for influence
- money launderingDisguising criminal proceeds' origins
- graftIllicit political gain
- embezzlementFraudulent taking of entrusted assets
kickbacks · cronyism · payoffs · collusion · malfeasance · protection money · police corruption · shell companies · offshore accounts
assassinations
Murders of important people
- kidnappingsForcible taking of persons
- hitmenPaid assassins
- sicariosHired killers for cartels
turf wars · paramilitaries · enforcers · massacres · torture · disappearances · beheadings · mass graves · bloodshed · retaliation
lawlessness
Absence of governing rules
- impunityFreedom from consequences
- anarchyDisorder from absent authority
- collapseSudden structural failure
displacement · refugee flows · humanitarian crisis · civil unrest · institutional decay · ungovernable · migration · destabilization · chaos · dysfunction
narcostateconstitutional democracy
Rule by people, bounded by law
liberal democracy · Switzerland · Singapore · good governance · democratic republic
narco, state, states, statehood, stateless, statesman, statesmanship, narcotics, narcotic