This week, we analyze the US’s anti-drug strategy in South America, a Sinaloa Cartel boss’s guilty plea, and the pardoning of a former Honduran president from his cocaine conviction.
Transcript
Welcome back to On The Radar, where we’re looking at how this week’s major developments show contradictions in US policy, with the Trump administration fighting the drug war with one hand and doing deals with traffickers with the other.
In the US, Joaquín Guzmán López, leader of one of Mexico’s infamous drug trafficking groups, the Chapitos, and son of “El Chapo,” pleaded guilty in a US court. He admitted to kidnapping an unnamed figure — widely believed to be Sinaloa Cartel kingpin “El Mayo” Zambada — and handing him over to US authorities.
But Guzmán’s plea failed to clear up exactly what the US’s role was in Mayo’s kidnapping, and was also a clear sign that the Chapito did a deal to cooperate with US prosecutors.
Another signal that conversations between traffickers and the US government were taking place behind the scenes was the unexpected release of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández. President Trump pardoned him of the 45-year sentence he was handed in 2024 after prosecutors proved that he helped move hundreds of tons of cocaine into the United States during his time in office.
Yet further south, Trump’s threats of military action against drug traffickers continued, with the US President now warning his forces could strike drug targets inside Colombia. The statement came after months of bombing suspected drug trafficking boats off the coasts of Venezuela and Colombia, and with a potential invasion to topple Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro looming.
Threatening the presidents of Colombia and Venezuela over their role in the drug trade whilst pardoning the former president of Honduras that the US government itself found guilty of trafficking is contradictory at best. What might come next is anybody’s guess.
That’s it for this week, please do go to InSightCrime.org for our extensive reporting on Juan Orlando Hernandez’s trafficking case, as well as the narco history of both Venezuela and Colombia. We’ll be back next week with more.
