Unchecked Criminal Organizations Are 'Strangling' Latin America as Extortion and Violence Surge

Activities such as illegal mining, human trafficking and extortion have allowed organized crime to extend its reach over institutions, territory and entire communities, experts say (Credit: Alex Peña/Getty Images)

As governments across Latin America devise new ways to curb the operations of drug cartels and other criminal groups, those same organizations have increasingly turned to other crimes like extortion to finance and expand their activities.

With the drug trade, criminal organizations were little by little able to function as profit-driven businesses, each fighting for its own space among consumers. As those groups expanded their business models, they began relying on other crimes to finance their enterprises. One of those was extortion, which spread across Latin America and created a snowball effect, feeding other violent crimes as local governments continued to struggle to contain it.