Reports indicate that Mexican drug cartels have set up clandestine air strips for drug shipments in isolated regions in northern Argentina.
According to a Univision special investigation (see video report below), the remote salt flats of the northern Argentine province of Catamarca are home to as many as 1,500 hidden landing fields. According to regional officials, Mexican nationals have purchased large swaths of land in the Catamarca region, which traffickers may be using to bring large quantities of narcotics into the country.
Locals in the area report having seen planes land in the area in recent months, followed by individuals offloading shipments of what appear to be drugs onto trucks.
This phenomenon is part of a trend, as Mexican cartels increasingly penetrate the illicit drug markets in South America. This is an illustration of just how much of the market Mexican drug trafficking groups have gained power over since two decades ago, when they served mostly as the distributors for larger Colombian organizations.
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