Drug Mules

Transnational Crime, Crime Control and Security Series editors: Anastassia Tsoukala, University of Paris XI, France, and James Sheptycki, York University, Canada Editorial board: Peter Andreas, Brown University, USA, Vida Bajc, Methodist University, USA, Benjamin Bowling, King’s College London, UK, Stanley Cohen, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, Andrew Dawson, University of Melbourne, Australia, Benoît Dupont, University of Montreal, Canada, Nicholas Fyfe, University of Dundee, UK, Andrew Goldsmith, University of Wollongong, Australia, Kevin Haggerty, University of Alberta, Canada, Jef Huysmans, Open University, UK, Robert Latham, York University, Canada, Stéphane LemanLanglois, Laval University, Canada, Michael Levi, Cardiff University, UK, Monique Marks, University of KwaZulu- Natal, South Africa, Valsamis Mitsilegas, Queen Mary, University of London, UK, Ethan Nadelmann, Drug Policy Alliance, USA, John Torpey, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, USA, Federico Varese, University of Oxford, UK Titles include: Vida Bajc Security, Surveillance and the Olympic Games (forthcoming) Jennifer Fleetwood DRUG MULES Women in the International Cocaine Trade Sophie Body-Gendrot GLOBALIZATION, FEAR AND INSECURITY The Challenges for Cities North and South Graham Ellison and Nathan Pino (editors) GLOBALIZATION, POLICE REFORM AND DEVELOPMENT Doing It the Western Way? Alexander Kupatadze Organized Crime, Political Transitions and State Formation in Post-Soviet Eurasia (forthcoming) Jude McCulloch and Sharon Pickering (editors) BORDERS AND TRANSNATIONAL CRIME Pre-Crime, Mobility and Serious Harm in an Age of Globalization Georgios Papanicolaou TRANSNATIONAL POLICING AND SEX TRAFFICKING IN SOUTHEAST EUROPE Policing the Imperialist Chain Leanne Weber and Sharon Pickering (editors) GLOBALIZATION AND BORDERS Death at the Global Frontier Linda Zhao FINANCING ILLEGAL MIGRATION Chinese Underground Banks and Human Smuggling in New York City Transnational Crime, Crime Control and Security Series Standing Order ISBN 978–0–23028945–1 hardback 978–0–23028946–8 paperback (outside North America only) You can receive future titles in this series as they are published by placing a standing order. Please contact your bookseller or, in case of difficulty, write to us at the address below with your name and address, the title of the series and one of the ISBNs quoted above. Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England Drug Mules Women in the International Cocaine Trade Jennifer Fleetwood Lecturer in Criminology, University of Leicester, UK © Jennifer Fleetwood 2014 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2014 978-1-137-27189-1 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2014 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010. Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has companies and representatives throughout the world. Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries ISBN 978-1-349-44469-4 ISBN 978-1-137-27190-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9781137271907 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. Contents Acknowledgements vi 1 1 Introduction: Cartels and Cocaine Queens 2 Imagining Drug Trafficking: Mafias, Markets, Mules 17 3 What Do Women Talk about When They Talk about Trafficking? 43 4 Who Are the ‘Traffickers’? 69 5 For Money and Love: Women’s Narratives about Becoming Mules 92 6 Beginning Mule-work 119 7 Mule-work and Gender 134 8 Backing Out 148 Conclusion: Women’s Offending in Global Context 160 Notes 167 Bibliography 175 Index 197 v Acknowledgements I am indebted to a number of institutions and individuals for providing me with either money or a room of my own while I was working on this book. I am exceptionally fortunate to have benefited from a very long, state-funded education, and I acknowledge the support of the ESRC in particular for funding the PhD on which this book is based (1+3 studentship PTA-030–2004–00460). The Programa de Estudios de la Ciudad, Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales (FLACSO), Quito, Ecuador generously hosted me for most of 2006. Professor Fernando Carrión, Jorge Nuñez, Paco Garcia, Andreina Torres, and Jenny Pontón welcomed me into the academic life of the department, shared their work, and offered all manner of support during fieldwork. Doctora Leticia Rojas at the Dirección Nacional de Rehabilitación Social, Ecuador, granted research access. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York hosted me for three months while I was writing. In Quito, Sandra Edwards was a generous host, formidable intellect, and tireless advocate for women in prison. She was an inspiration to many young scholars and is sadly missed. Thanks are also due to the following who commented on parts of the book at various stages in its development: supervisors Angus Bancroft and Jan Webb (University of Edinburgh) and Michele Burman (University of Glasgow); Richard Curtis and Jock Young (John Jay, CUNY); Sveinung Sandberg, Lois Presser, Ali Fraser, and Karin Andersson. Many thanks to colleagues at the University of Kent for many fruitful discussions: Keith Hayward, Roger Matthews, Phil Carney, Kate O’Brien, Caroline Chatwin, Johnny Ilan, and Nayeli Urquiza Haas. Finally, research of this kind is never possible without the collaboration and enthusiasm of respondents. I was fortunate to have the backing of tireless, generous collaborators to whom I offer my most humble, most heartfelt thanks. vi