Week 2: “It’s the Economy, Stupid:” Exploring the Causes of the Drug Trade

Michael Z -

Greetings from Manila, in the Philippines! After spending a week in Hong Kong and China, I have now travelled to the capital city of the Philippines. Throughout my time in East and Southeast Asia, one thing that especially stood out was an extremely strict approach to dealing with the drug trade. Here in the Philippines, a drug war in the southern part of the country raged for many years, and the country has been a transit point for many of the drugs that exit Myanmar on their way across the Pacific Ocean. In China and Singapore (which I will be visiting in 2 weeks), drug trafficking is a near-certain path to a death sentence if caught, which makes sense if you look at how negatively China has been affected by drugs in a historical sense with the opium trade. 

 

Now onto this week’s topic!

 

After talking a lot about the diversity of criminal organizations in Myanmar compared to Colombia (see Week 0-1), I think it’s extremely important to refocus on the core criminal industry I aim to focus on in my research into criminal syndicates, drugs. By primarily studying the narcotics-oriented operations of criminal organizations in Myanmar, it will be easier to compare and research them relative to the former Medellin Cartel of Colombia, which was a completely drug fueled endeavor. 

 

As we begin to focus on and dive into the drug trade and how criminal organizations go about engaging in the drug trade, today we will be looking for the key reason that enables narcotics to be such a big industry. The answer? Money. Mystery solved, see you next week!

 

In all seriousness, however, it really is money and profit that drives the drug trade. At its height, the Medellin Cartel brought in $100 million from the cocaine trade- not yearly, monthly, or weekly, but daily. 

 

In contrast, Myanmar, in 2015 even before much of the instability and global shift in drug production, drug lords were estimated to bring in around 2 billion a year, a number which has likely exponentially increased since. For further context, the United Nations estimates that the meth trade in Asia alone is worth 61.4 billion, with Myanmar having a significant role in that trade. 

 

Money and the drug economy drives the demand and supply relationship inherent in any exchange of goods. In this case, massive profits have led to massive harm in the form of drugs being spread across the world from Myanmar in the present, and Colombia in the past. As I continue my research, I think it is essential to quantify and further examine the economics that motivate criminal organizations to produce, traffic, and sell drugs all around the world. 

 

See you next week!

 

Serena, Katie. “The Medellín Cartel: The Drug Empire That Ruled Colombia.” All That’s Interesting, September 28, 2021, https://allthatsinteresting.com/medellin-cartel.

 

Fuller, Thomas. “The Dark Side of Myanmar Boom.”  Bangkok Post, June 7, 2015, https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/584341/the-dark-side-of-myanmar-boom.

 

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). “Synthetic Drugs in East and Southeast Asia Latest developments and challenges.” UNODC, 2020, https://www.unodc.org/documents/scientific/ATS/2020_ESEA_Regonal_Synthetic_Drug_Report_web.pdf.

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    inika_b
    Hope you're enjoying the Philipines! While I was reading through your post I was wondering how do the economics and profit distribution of Myanmar’s drug trade compare to the former Medellin Cartel, and what are the main factors in how they are different?
    February 21, 2025 at 12:43 am - Reply
    Brennon C
    Hi Michael, you mentioned that the Medellin Cartel brought in $100 million from the cocaine trade daily, so I was wondering if any attempts to intercept these transactions have been made, or if they are too covered up by corrupt politics and hidden facilities?
    February 22, 2025 at 3:00 pm - Reply
    michael_z
    Hi Brennon! The United States along with numerous allies, including the Colombian government, waged a very publicized drug war that some would argue continues to this day. The reason the Medellin Cartel focused so heavily on cocaine was because it managed to slip under the radar in comparison to other major drugs at the time like heroin or meth. As a part of this, they worked hard to expand their power both in government and in their illegal operations so as to try to become "untouchable." When they did realize cocaine was a huge problem, the US and Colombia engaged in violent conflict with the Medellin Cartel to hunt down and punish them, ending in the "Search Bloc" unit of the Colombian police (with help from US intelligence) killing Pablo Escobar. The short answer is: yes, they did try, and were in a sense successful, though I should note illegal cocaine production in Colombia has not stopped, even to this day.
    February 24, 2025 at 5:59 am - Reply
    michael_z
    Great to hear from you Inika. The answer to your question was really found in my previous posts, weeks 0 and 1, however I have no problem saying it again! The Medellin Cartel operated near solely on the profits provided by cocaine. They were a horizontally and vertically integrated machine that really expanded their powerbase for the purposes of solidifying and maximizing the profits of growing then selling cocaine. As for profit distribution, I haven't researched too much into that however, even some of the base level workers (pisadores, meaning that they crush cocoa leaves) received wages far better than any legal jobs in their area. Though, it should be noted Pablo Escobar was massively wealthy, so I'm not too sure about the equality of their profit sharing plan. In contrast, the key difference, is the diversity of Myanmar's drug syndicates. Really, they are less drug syndicates and more multinational corporations. There are so many more organizations involved (hence why they aren't cartels), and many of them appear, according to my research, to be in so many schemes from crypto to cyberscams and gambling. It's going to be tough primarily focusing on the illegal narcotics aspect.
    February 24, 2025 at 6:06 am - Reply
    Asher
    Great article! I want to learn more about the drug war in the southern Philippines.
    February 24, 2025 at 11:32 am - Reply
    michael_z
    Hi Asher! My project isn’t super focused on the drug war in the south Philippines, however, from what I do know, it was a crackdown on drug dealers and users in the South Philippines by the administration of President Duterte. He mostly targeted criminal groups like Chinese triads or local drug gangs. It was controversial and violent because of the many extrajudicial killings that were never solved, or were blamed on the police and government. I encourage you to do more research if you’re interested, because I’m not focusing too much on the drug war there.
    February 24, 2025 at 5:04 pm - Reply

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