Economist Podcasts Cocaine and able: drug runners innovate
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Oct 22, 2025 
Kinley Salmon, a Latin America correspondent for The Economist, discusses the booming cocaine trade and how traffickers have evolved into innovative, specialized networks. He reveals new smuggling techniques like narco-subs and chemical masking, while advocating for smarter policing over military strikes. Meanwhile, Don Weinland, China business editor, unpacks the unsettling Liu Zhi detentions of executives, citing political motives and rising anti-corruption campaigns. They also touch on the audacious Louvre heist and the challenges of recovering stolen treasures.
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Cocaine Trade Is Now A Global, Resilient Industry
- Cocaine trafficking has become a global, booming industry with production and consumption at record highs.
- Networks now act as specialised subcontractors, making the trade more resilient and harder to disrupt.
Subcontracting Replaced Vertical Cartels
- Traffickers use a subcontracted supply chain like manufacturing, splitting roles across regions and specialists.
- Specialisation increases resilience and breeds continuous innovation across the whole supply chain.
Coca Farming Moves And Modernises
- Coca cultivation spread beyond the Andes into Central America, Mexico and deeper Amazon regions for easier export.
- Growers use precision techniques like drones to raise yields and move processing closer to ports.