How drugs travel from Latin America to the United States: the most common routes

The U.S. government has stepped up attacks on vessels and crews it says are trafficking drugs from Latin America to the United States. The Trump administration’s recent actions include air and naval strikes on boats in the Caribbean — near Venezuela — and the eastern Pacific.

On October 29, the Pentagon confirmed strikes on four vessels in the eastern Pacific that, according to officials, left 14 people dead and one survivor.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said U.S. intelligence tracked the four boats as they moved along “known narco-trafficking routes” carrying narcotics. He added that the individuals aboard were part of groups the U.S. labels “narco-terrorists,” and vowed the military would continue to target them.

Why critics worry about transparency and lawfulness

Officials have given few details about the criteria and evidence behind these strikes. That lack of transparency has drawn scrutiny from human rights groups and some legal experts, who question whether the operations fully comply with international law and whether alternatives — like arrests and prosecutions — were considered.

How cartels organize the drug trade

Drug cartels in Latin America operate with corporate-like division of labor. They control the supply chain from cultivation to distribution: some groups handle production and local security, while others manage logistics and transport.

Security expert Jaime Eduardo Arango told CNN that countries such as Colombia serve primarily as producers—growing and processing cocaine—while Mexican cartels and the so-called “Cartel of the Suns” provide the routes and logistical networks that move product toward the U.S. and Europe. (For readers unfamiliar: the “Cartel of the Suns” is a label used by U.S. officials to describe certain Venezuelan military-linked trafficking networks.)

Different drugs, different routes

Smuggling methods depend on the drug. Fentanyl — mostly synthesized in Mexico using imported precursors, including from Asia according to U.S. drug-enforcement agencies — typically moves across the U.S.–Mexico border overland.

Cocaine, produced in Colombia, Peru and Bolivia, often travels a longer maritime route. After processing, it can be moved through neighboring countries such as Ecuador or Venezuela, then loaded onto boats bound for Central America’s coast or directly to Mexico — using either Pacific or Caribbean sea lanes — before eventually making its way north into the United States. Many shipments also travel overland through Central American countries.

Methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana each follow their own mixes of overland and maritime routes, depending on origin, demand and enforcement pressure along known corridors.

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