Organized Crime and Drug Markets

This Thematic Document summarizes contributions from academic research published in Latin America during 2018 on public policy that addresses organized crime related to drug trafficking. These publications call for rethinking state interventions focused on the use of force that can result in human rights violations. Evidence shows that the most effective policies to reduce violence in the fight against organized crime are those that frame the use of legal force within social programs. It is therefore urgent that we better understand the context and dynamics of organized crime in relation to economic and cultural dimensions. In addition, the complexity of the problem of organized crime requires public policy whose potential impact and measurement are thought from long-term perspectives.