Pills, Thrills, and Espadrilles: A British Drug Market in a Foreign Land

• In Event: IASOC Presents the Mark Haller Memorial Panel: Illicit Enterprises that Span and Transverse the World

Abstract

Every summer, thousands of Brits descend upon Ibiza in search of seasonal employment in one of its many tourist-orientated industries, in the hopes of funding an extended summer vacation. For many, the meagre wages associated with these jobs are sufficient only in covering food and board; anything more than a subsistence lifestyle on this notoriously expensive island requires either savings or supplementary incomes. Using data obtained via two ethnographic studies involving privileged access, this paper presents an analysis of Ibiza’s thriving seasonal drug economy. We discuss how, for many, drug sales become a supplementary or replacement revenue to low-paying (legitimate) summer jobs. We describe the profits and associated lifestyles linked to this transient 'work', and analyse the methods and means of entry at varying levels of the supply chain: including retail, wholesale, importation, and 'middle management'. We argue that this seasonal illicit drugs economy is inexorably linked to Ibiza's dance club scene and the associated influx in British tourists. We discuss how many, with no prior involvement in criminal entrepreneurship, drifted into dealing as a means of funding hedonistic (albeit temporary) Transnational Illicit Enterprises and Markets lifestyles. Finally, we distinguish between those whose forays into the drugs economy were short-term and isolated, and those for whom these seasonal careers led to more sustained drug dealing careers back in the UK.

Authors

• Mike Salinas-Edwards, Manchester Metropolitan University

• Richard Alexander, Manchester Metropolitan University