Colombia is currently trying to negotiate a free trade agreement with the US (which would, among other things, make it easier for cocaine traffickers to launder US coke-dollars back into Colombian hands), but is suing liquor companies for being in bed with narco-traffickers.
... a pending lawsuit pits the government of Colombia, and its various departments (or states) against two of the world’s largest liquor producers, England-based Diageo Plc and France-based Pernod Ricard SA — both of which have major U.S. operations and produce well-known brands such as Smirnoff, Johnnie Walker, Captain Morgan, Chivas Regal and Martell.In the litigation, a civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Act case filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, the government of Colombia accuses the giant liquor companies and their co-conspirators, including distributors based in Aruba (a Caribbean island nation just northeast of Colombia), of having “engaged in and facilitated organized crime by laundering the proceeds of narcotics trafficking,” among other acts, according to the court pleadings.
Here's the chart (because there has to be a chart):
Read the whole thing at my new favorite blog, Narco News. (Blog del Narco is narco-porn, which serves a certain kind of purpose. Narco News is reporting, which serves another. Forgive me if you all know this already—I'm just catching up.)