Mexico’s drug cartels make billions of dollars a year on illegal drugs, what emerges out of those dollars is the focus of this episode’s interview.
My guest, is author and journalist Ioan Grillo, who’s spent the past 20 years in Mexico reporting and authoring books on the cartels in Latin America.
Ioan helps encapsulate the hydra of problems existing between the cartels, military and police, and how it plays out and is felt by the typical person caught, or tempted by the drug business.
Check out Ioan's writing - https://www.ioangrillo.com/
Twitter - https://twitter.com/ioangrillo
(0:00) - Introduction
(5:16) - Interview with Ioan Grillo
(10:07) - The Confluence of Culture, Geography, and Drug Demand
(17:16) - Impact of Political Change on Drug Trafficking
(24:32) - Economic Factors in Drug Trafficking
(28:00) - Influence of Drug Money in Mexico
(32:39) - Cartels and Police Corruption
(37:21) - The Failures of Neoliberalism in Latin America
(41:47) - The Pyramid of Power in Mexico
(46:14) - The Economy of Violence & The Commodification of Murder
(57:11) - Impunity and Murder in Mexico
(1:05:19) - Child Soldiers in Mexican Cartels
(1:12:39) - Solutions: Building Police Forces, Reducing Violence, Drug Policy Reform
(1:20:43) - Influence of culture on criminal behavior
(1:33:02) - Influencing the Game: Changing Incentives and Disincentives
(1:39:07) - Mathematical approaches to solving social problems
(1:48:31) - Cartel Support for Local Communities during COVID-19
(1:55:19) - Accepting the reality of drugs in society
(2:06:44) - Police Reform vs. Abolishing the Police
(2:09:11) - The International Perspective on Drug Policy
(2:12:10) - The Importance of Connection and Mental Health
