How South American drug cartels get around coronavirus lockdowns

By Luke Taylor

Like most other industries, the illegal drug trade has been affected by the covid-19 pandemic, but it hasn’t stopped cartels from finding ways around national shutdowns and anti-narcotics police operations.

On 1 July, Colombian and US naval forces seized 7.5 tonnes of cocaine on its way to Panama from the port of Cartagena, one of Colombia’s largest drug busts in recent years.

The drugs were being shipped from a Colombian paramilitary group to criminal organisations …