Abstract

GUERRERO-C, Javier. Ignorance studies, intelligence and the war on drugs in Colombia. URVIO [online]. 2017, n.21, pp.158-174. ISSN 1390-4299.  https://doi.org/10.17141/urvio.21.2017.2943.

The enormous resources invested in intelligence in the war on drugs have allowed state agencies to accumulate a valuable knowledge about the actions of international drug trafficking networks. Intelligence plays a central role in planning and conducting maritime interdiction operations. The use of intelligence in this type of operations, however, has limitations, not least the interpretation and reinterpretation of the results. I propose that studies of ignorance can serve to explain these paradoxical results, as well as the role and limits of intelligence in the war on drugs. In this article, we reflect on the possibilities of ignorance studies to understand the different interpretations of the use of intelligence and the results of this. The present analysis was based on a series of interviews with members of the Navy in various regions of the country.

Keywords : intelligence; ignorance studies; maritime interdiction; war on drugs.

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