Drug trafficking's effects on coastal ecosystems.

In their Policy Forum “Drug policy as conservation policy: Narco-deforestation” (31 January, p. [489][1]), K. McSweeney et al. explain how Central American drug trafficking contributes to forest loss. Coastal ecosystems are also affected by drug trafficking. Coastal drug trafficking is prominent along the Mesoamerican corridor ([ 1 ][2]). Shrimp and lobster fishing ports often double as trafficking centers, and small reef islands are occupied by narco-traffickers whose clandestine operations seed fear and corruption ([ 2 ][3], [ 3 ][4]). Fishers get pulled into the drug trade, as they can make small fortunes selling supplies to traffickers, working directly with them, or by hunting the “white lobster”—bales of cocaine cast adrift by traffickers dumping evidence when capture is imminent ([ 2 ][3]–[ 4 ][5]). Drug traffickers also invest heavily in fishing fleets to help hide their operations, a narco-capitalization that could facilitate overfishing of high-value species such as shrimp or lobster ([ 4 ][5]–[ 7 ][6]). Money laundering also endangers coastal ecosystems through the development of often unregulated projects (e.g., building hotels) ([ 8 ][7]). The effect of these illegal activities on fisheries and coastal management is unquantified. As we study how “drug policy is conservation policy,” let's not forget the coast. 1. [↵][8]1. E. L. Olson, 2. D. A. Shirk, 3. A. Selee , “Shared responsibility: U.S.-Mexico policy options for confronting organized crime” (Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, DC, 2011). 2. [↵][9]1. J. McDermott , “Bluefields: Nicaragua's cocaine hub” (Insight Crime, Medellin, Colombia, 2012). 3. [↵][10]1. L. Ramirez , “Narco-islands: The Honduras-Belize tourist bridge” (Insight Crime, Medellin, Colombia, 2013). 4. [↵][11]1. I. Monnereau , thesis, University of Amsterdam (2012). 5. 1. R. C. Archibold, 2. D. Cave , “Drug wards push deeper into Central America,” New York Times, 24 March 2011, p. A1. 6. 1. R. Downs , “The trickle-down economics of Nicaragua's drug trade,” Vice (29 August 2013). 7. [↵][12]United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, “Transnational organized crime in the fishing industry” (United Nations, Vienna, 2011). 8. [↵][13]1. R. Duffy , Third World Quart. 21, 549 (2000). [OpenUrl][14][CrossRef][15][Web of Science][16] [1]: /lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1244082 [2]: #ref-1 [3]: #ref-2 [4]: #ref-3 [5]: #ref-4 [6]: #ref-7 [7]: #ref-8 [8]: #xref-ref-1-1 "View reference 1 in text" [9]: #xref-ref-2-1 "View reference 2 in text" [10]: #xref-ref-3-1 "View reference 3 in text" [11]: #xref-ref-4-1 "View reference 4 in text" [12]: #xref-ref-7-1 "View reference 7 in text" [13]: #xref-ref-8-1 "View reference 8 in text" [14]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DThird%2BWorld%2BQuart.%26rft.volume%253D21%26rft.spage%253D549%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.1080%252F713701038%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [15]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=10.1080/713701038&link_type=DOI [16]: /lookup/external-ref?access_num=000088161500008&link_type=ISI