Brazil: Drug Trafficking in the Federal State of Rondonia

In: International social science journal: ISSJ, Band 53, Heft 3, S. 443-450

Abstract

Drug trafficking has deeply affected social, political, & economic life in the Brazilian states bordering Bolivia. This article analyzes the Amazonian cocaine cycle from the early 1980s in the federal state of Rondonia. It considers (1) how the first major drug trafficking networks were formed; (2) the Madeira river gold rush & the wider access to cocaine resulting from the barter of stolen or contraband goods, together with the development of a large-scale domestic drug market in Brazil; & (3) the commercial decline of Brazil's border towns & the boom enjoyed by inland towns as a result of the drug trade. These historical developments are linked to the rise of power of certain drug traffickers within the federal state machinery through their election to public office. 1 Map. Adapted from the source document.