Drug trafficking Archives - Robert Lansing Institute

Trump’s Threats to “Hit Land” in Mexico: Escalation Logic, Operational Limits, and Political Effects

In early January 2026, President Donald Trump signaled that the U.S. would begin “hitting land” against drug cartels, asserting that cartels are “running Mexico,” and suggesting that military action could…

January 9, 2026Mexico, USA

Drug trafficking Governance Intelligence ops National Security

Decapitation Strategy in Caracas: The Logic, Timing, and Consequences of the U.S. Operation in Venezuela

In the early hours of 3 January 2026, the United States launched Operation Southern Spear, a large-scale strike against Venezuela that targeted key military facilities around Caracas and other locations in…

January 3, 2026USA, Veneuela

Coup Democracy Drug trafficking

A Narco-State in Flux: Why the 2025 Guinea-Bissau Coup Creates Space for Russian Influence

26–27 November 2025, the army ousted President Umaro Sissoco Embaló and installed Gen. Horta N’Ta Na Man as transitional leader. Guinea-Bissau is a small, chronically unstable state where three fault lines overlap:…

November 27, 2025Guinea-Bissau

Corruption Drug trafficking migration

The Kremlin’s Shadow Routes: Russia’s Control of Migration and Drug Flows into Europe”

Sweden’s Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Mikael Claesson, stated that Russia’s acts of hybrid warfare against the West are not limited to deploying drones, conducting cyberattacks, and carrying out acts…

November 24, 2025Russia

Drug trafficking Governance

Ecuador’s New Intelligence Law: Shield or Sword?

1. Executive Summary In early 2025, Ecuador passed a controversial new intelligence law aimed at restructuring the country’s security architecture amid rising violence and narcotrafficking. Marketed as a tool for…

June 16, 2025Ecuador

Drug trafficking Intelligence ops

How the Kremlin uses Italian organized crime groups to sponsor pro-Russian forces in Slovakia

The Slovak politicians-Italian mafia business links were discovered following the killing of Slovak journalist Ján Kuciak in 2018. The authorities believe Kuciak was murdered in relation to his work. He…

February 5, 2024cocaine, mafia, Orban, Russia, Slovakia

Drug trafficking Geopolitics

Why does Saudi Arabia seek rapprochement with Bashar al-Assad?

The era of isolation for the President Bashar al-Assad's Syria seems to have ended even from Saudi Arabia, one of the countries that in 2011 took the initiative to break…

April 17, 2023captagon, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria

Coup Drug trafficking

Guinea-Bissau’s foiled coup: linked to drug or against French-friendly President

According to various accounts, gunmen entered the government palace complex – which houses the various ministries on the outskirts of Bissau, the capital, near the airport – in the early…

February 4, 2022Guinea-Bissau

Drug trafficking

Hezbollah’s involvement in cocaine trafficking

Hezbollah involved in the drug trade. American law enforcement discovered Hezbollah’s drug activity by chance in 2006, when Colombian wiretaps monitoring a Medellin- based drug cartel known as the Oficina del Envigado picked up…

July 16, 2021cocaine, Hezbollah, Latin America

Democracy Drug trafficking Governance

Drug gangs along with local power brokers allegedly linked to assassination of Haitian president

Haitian president assassination was orchestrated by drug gangs, backed by some Haiti’s power brokers, as the attackers tried to indict the U.S. government of murder. Colombian and Venezuelan citizens, with drug…

July 9, 2021Colombia, Haiti, Venezuela