Families, Lovers, and Friends: Women, Social Networks, and Transnational Cocaine Smuggling from Curaçao and Peru
| Author | MARION VAN SAN,ELGA SIKKENS |
| Date | 01 September 2017 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/hojo.12218 |
| Published date | 01 September 2017 |
The Howard Journal Vol56 No 3. September 2017 DOI: 10.1111/hojo.12218
ISSN 2059-1098, pp. 343–357
Families, Lovers, and Friends:
Women, Social Networks, and
Transnational Cocaine Smuggling
from Curac¸ao and Peru
MARION VAN SAN and ELGA SIKKENS
Marion van San is Senior Researcher, Erasmus University Rotterdam,
RISBO, Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Elga Sikkens is Researcher, Utrecht
University, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Department of
Pedagogical and Educational Sciences, Utrecht, the Netherlands
Abstract: Research on the role of women in organised crime used to be relatively scarce,
but since the end of the 1990s more and more research has been conducted on this
particular topic. Through this research it has become apparent that a growing number of
women plays an increasingly important role in organised drug-smuggling operations. To
understand more about the involvement of women in the drug trade, it is important to
study their social networks. We studied the social ties of women who participated in two
transnational drug-trafficking networks: one between Curac¸ao and the Netherlands and
the second between Peruand the Netherlands. What makes the comparison between the two
groups interesting is that one group is connected to Curac¸ao(historically connected to the
Netherlands) while the other group is connected to Peru (with no historical connections).
Women who smuggle drugs between the Netherlands and Curac¸ao have transnational
familial networks through which criminal capital is transmitted and drug trafficking is
facilitated. Women who smuggle between Peru and the Netherlands lack these networks
but are often connected to intermediaries through lovers and acquaintances.
Keywords: drug mules; social networks; transnational cocaine smuggling;
women
Research on the role of women in organised crime used to be relatively
scarce, but since the end of the 1990s more and more research has been
conducted on this particular topic (Fiandaca 2003). Through this re-
search, it has become apparent that a growing number of women play
an increasingly important role in organised drug-smuggling operations
(Anderson 2005; Fleetwood 2014). Tounderstand more about the involve-
ment of women in the drug trade, it is important to study their social
networks. Research on organised crime demonstrates that social networks
are the foundation of criminal collaborations. People work together with
343
C
2017 The Howard League and John Wiley & Sons Ltd
Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK
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