Daurius Figueira
This work first published in 2012 was my first attempt to grapple with the marked, obvious changes to the illicit trades of the Caribbean that became manifest in the first decade of the 21st century. It became obvious in my research that there were now two entirely different transnational organised crime TOC) business models now operationalised in the Caribbean which were now changing the order of power of the illicit trades and that of Caribbean Gangland. This organic change was simultaneously manifest in Africa and Europe, whilst illicit drug production and trafficking were being fundamentally changed in South America clearly illustrating two diametrically different TOC business models now operationalised from South America, through the Caribbean to Africa and finally Europe. In 2025 it became necessary to fully revise this 2012 work as the following developments became manifest: the ongoing war for hegemony between the Colombian Dons and the Mexican TTOs from South America to Europe; to present a detailed analysis of what is Pax Mexicana actually, its business model, its order of power, its instruments of power and its strategic model; the need to present an analysis of the present raging war within the business model of the Colombian Dons as contending factions battle for hegemony; the collapse of the cocaine market of the USA and its impact on the business model of the Colombian Dons; the rise of Europe as the new frontier of the illicit trades to the North Atlantic; the threat of illicit synthetic drugs and the future of the European cocaine market, and finally the lessons to be learnt from the collapse of the USA cocaine market under the assault of illicit synthetic drugs. In this revised volume this analysis is presented in detail in an account of the new model of the illicit trades originating in the Americas in the 21st century. The USA war on drugs has failed miserably!
