Built by Prohibition: The Origins of Mexican Cartels

What started with speakeasies and rum runners during U.S. Prohibition spiraled into a global criminal network. In this episode, we trace the underground booze routes of the 1920s, and how these early smuggling networks laid the groundwork for today’s powerful cartels. From the Gulf Cartel’s origins to the chilling violence of CJNG’s death camps, this is the dark evolution of an illicit economy born in the dry days of Prohibition.Sources:Washington State University: Bootlegging During ProhibitionDrug Enforcement Administration: National Drug Threat Assessment 2024Cato Institute: Making a Narco: Childhood Exposure to Illegal Labor Markets and Criminal Life PathsThe New York Times: Canaries sing in Mexico, but Uncle Juan will notKen Burns: Unintended Consequences of Prohibition