Law, Power, and Justice

Many are now heavily involved in the illegal mining of gold, which has become a thriving business as the price of the metal has soared. Experts say there have been cases of drug gangs using the same logistics networks to export cocaine and import the mercury that is used in artisanal mining to extract gold from ore.

Human trafficking is another growing sideline. In recent years, hundreds of thousands of refugees have tried to reach the US through a remote area along the Colombia-Panama border known as the Darién Gap. Financial times