ABSTRACT
Although drug trafficking and gunrunning are distinct and separate phenomena, they have become so intrinsically interrelated that it is practically impossible to deal with either one in an isolated manner. As legitimate enterprises, the sales of both drugs and arms are extremely profitable businesses and are often protected and promoted by governments. As illegal commodities, they represent the world’s two largest black markets. The two goods often use the same trade routes, although demand for illicit drugs and production of arms tend to be located in industrialised nations, while production of illicit drugs and demand for arms tend to be in the so-called lesser developed countries. This chapter analyses the nature of these issues, to help open a discussion on the linkages between illicit the trade in drugs and arms. Colombia is presently the region's main source of illegal drugs and the principal buyer of legal and illegal arms.
