Colombians and the drug-trafficking networks in New York in the 1970s/Les colombiens et les reseaux du narcotrafic a New York dans les annees 70/Os colombianos e as quadrilhas do narcotrafico em Nova York durante os anos 70/Los colombianos y las redes del narcotrafico en Nueva York durante los anos 70

It is commonly held that Colombian drugs' trafficking has been in the hands of the "cartels". However, the empirical evidence shows that, in particular during the 1970s, the period on which the article focuses, the phenomenon has been a permeable endeavour involving many participants in addition to large criminal organisations. These have included "freelancers"--principally Colombians but including people of other nationalities too--who have operated according to a small business model. Consequently, the belief that the cartels exercise monopoly control over the business is incorrect. The unpublished materials used to prepare this article are drawn primarily from US archives.