Clash of the Cartels: Unmasking the global drug kingpins stalking South Africa (2022, Maverick451)
This book is available on Amazon here and in various stores in South Africa. It’s also available on Daily Maverick’s online shop here.
This is South Africa, home to cutthroat gangs and a lair to some of the world’s most notorious drug lords who seem to view the country as a buffer from prosecution. It’s easy to see why – politics has pummelled policing, first in the form of apartheid and then under Jacob Zuma’s presidency when state corruption exploded, and intelligence structures imploded.
Tons of illicit drugs are pumped across the borders annually. This bleeds into other crimes including terrorism, arms dealing, kidnapping and extortion. Add hardened homespawned gangs to this toxic mix, and the combination is lethal.
An array of local and foreign names surface when prodding this volatile brew. Among them is one of India’s ‘most wanted,’ Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, accused of partnering with the Taliban, and self-confessed drug trafficking mastermind Vaygiri ‘Vicky’ Goswami who reportedly claims to have helped finance the ANC. Then there is Brazilian trafficking accused Gilberto Aparecido dos Santos, and Cuban kingpin Nelson Pablo Yester-Garrido, who purportedly had a soft spot for Nelson Mandela.
The Small Walls Journal reviewed Clash of the Cartels. John Sullivan wrote: “This text should be used to augment theoretical explorations by scholars and illuminate training for intelligence analysts and police investigating or formulating strategies for countering transnational organized crime.” Read more here.
The Africa Report’s Carien du Plessis wrote about Clash of the Cartels in this article published in November 2022: South Africa: Drug cartels, crime syndicates, and their relationship to politicians
Read how Clash of the Cartels features in this Vice News article of November 2022. Why Was Israel’s Most Wanted Mobster Hiding Out in South Africa?
