The Trump administration is escalating efforts to crack down on gangs that move illicit drugs into the United States, with deadly military strikes at sea and measures to toughen up borders taking center stage.
But as the US doubles down on overt interventions, experts warn policymakers may be overlooking a key battlefield: prisons across the region.
Several of Latin America’s most powerful criminal organizations were not forged in borderlands, the streets, or jungle hideouts but inside the region’s prisons. Overcrowded, under-resourced, and often effectively self-governed, these facilities have long served as incubators where armed groups recruit, reorganize, and expand their influence. Across the…
