Maritime interdiction in the war on drugs in Colombia: practices, technologies and technological innovation
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Date
05/07/2017Author
Guerrero Castro, Javier Enrique
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Abstract
Since the early 1990s, maritime routes have been considered to be the main method
used by Colombian smugglers to transport illicit drugs to consumer or transhipment
countries. Smugglers purchase off the shelf solutions to transport illicit drugs, such as
go-fast boats and communication equipment, but also invest in developing their own
artefacts, such as makeshift submersible and semisubmersible artefacts,
narcosubmarines. The Colombian Navy has adopted several strategies and adapted
several technologies in their attempt to control the flows of illicit drugs.
In this research I present an overview of the ‘co-evolution’ of drug trafficking
technologies and the techniques and technologies used by the Colombian Navy to
counter the activities of drug smugglers, emphasizing the process of self-building
artefacts by smugglers and local responses by the Navy personnel. The diversity of
smugglers artefacts are analysed as a result of local knowledge and dispersed peer-innovation.
Novel uses of old technologies and practices of interdiction arise as the
result of different forms of learning, among them a local form of knowledge ‘malicia
indigena’ (local cunning). The procurement and use of interdiction boats and
operational strategies by the Navy are shaped by interaction of two arenas: the arena
of practice - the knowledge and experience of local commanders and their perceptions
of interdiction events; and, the arena of command, which focuses on producing
tangible results in order to reassert the Navy as a capable counterdrug agency.
This thesis offers insights from Science and Technology Studies to the understanding
of the ‘War on Drugs, and in particular the Biography of Artefacts and Practices,
perspective that combines historical and to ethnographic methods to engage different
moments and locales. Special attention was given to the uneven access to information
between different settings and the consequences of this asymmetry both for the
research and also for the actors involved in the process. The empirical findings and
theoretical insights contribute to understanding drug smuggling and military
organisations and Enforcement Agencies in ways that can inform public policies
regarding illicit drug control.