Drug abuse and traffic

All the strikes in recent weeks have taken place in the Pacific, reflecting Colombia’s role in the drug trade and the feuding between Bogotá and Washington.

Joaquín Guzmán López admitted to having the once-untouchable drug kingpin Ismael Zambada García abducted and flown to the United States, among a sweeping set of other crimes.

Venezuela doesn’t play a large role in the drug trade to the United States, so what is motivating the massive military buildup? Julian E. Barnes, who reports on intelligence and international security, discusses the issues with our senior writer Katrin Bennhold.

Venezuelans coined a figure of speech for the phenomenon of generals corrupted by drug money: “Cartel de los Soles.” Then the United States started talking about it as a literal organization.

Ryan Wedding, a former Olympic athlete said to be a major cocaine trafficker, is accused of ordering the murder of a witness who was set to testify against him.

The authorities said the deadliest operation in Rio’s history had killed four police officers and at least 60 other people. It was an attack on “narco-terrorists,” the state governor said.

Zhi Dong Zhang, who escaped house arrest in Mexico this summer, is accused of supplying cartels with fentanyl from China, smuggling and money laundering millions under the alias “Brother Wang.”