Cocaine in Miskitu villages1

During the 1990s, Miskitu people in the coastal villages north of Puerto Cabezas began finding cocaine washed up on the beach and on the Miskitu Keys just off the coast. Drug runners carrying the cocaine north apparently dump it overboard when pursued by authorities. Cocaine wealth has been used differently in two local communities. In Sandy Bay, cocaine money has been used to build new houses, schools, and churches, in a project of self-directed development. As a result, Sandy Bay appears prosperous. In Awastara, on the other hand, there is little evidence of new wealth from cocaine. Unfortunately, in all the coastal communities, cocaine finds have also led to deaths from overdoses, cocaine addiction among young men, and increased theft and violence. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]