Drug Traffickers or Victims? Exploring the Links Between Cross-Border Drug Trafficking and Human Trafficking in Chile

• In Event: Immigration and Justice Issues II

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between women's involvement in cross-border drug trafficking and human trafficking for criminal exploitation. In particular, it examines cases where drug trafficking carried out by women drug couriers is a result of typical exploitative practices of human trafficking. From there, it confirms the existence of this phenomenon in north of Chile and analyzes the dynamics that occur within the criminal justice system when the statuses of trafficking victims and drug traffickers overlap. The research was conducted using a qualitative methodology that included semi-structured interviews as the primary data collection technique. The results suggest that criminal exploitation is an emerging phenomenon in Chile that tends to be obscured by the dynamics of the criminal justice system revolving around the prosecution of cross-border drug trafficking.

Author

• Roberto Dufraix-Tapia, Universidad de Tarapacá