Podcast Summary:

Podcast: New Books Network
Host: Caleb Zakarin
Guest: Aileen Teague, Assistant Professor, Texas A&M
Episode: "Policing on Drugs: The United States, Mexico, and the Origins of the Modern Drug War, 1969-2000"
Date: October 22, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode features a conversation with historian Aileen Teague about her new book, Policing on Drugs: The United States, Mexico, and the Origins of the Modern Drug War, 1969-2000. Teague retraces the political and historical roots of anti-drug cooperation and conflict between the United States and Mexico over three tumultuous decades. Together, the host and author unpack why, despite intensified enforcement and cross-border collaboration, overdose deaths and organized crime have grown worse, while also exploring the Mexican perspective—frequently overlooked in U.S.-centric narratives.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Author's Background & Motivation

• Aileen Teague is of Panamanian descent, a former Marine, and currently researches U.S.–Latin American relations, focusing on how U.S. policies are perceived abroad.
  • “I am… a former Marine… interested mostly in US-Latin America relations and understanding what the impacts of US policies are from the perspective of other nations.” (03:13)
• Her entry into Mexican drug policy history began unexpectedly during graduate school, initially intending to focus on Panama. Newfound access to the Federal Security Directorate (DFS) archives in Mexico deepened her research. (05:05)

2. Operation Intercept and the Start of the Modern Drug War (1969)

• Nixon’s 1969 Operation Intercept sought to virtually close the U.S.–Mexico border to force Mexican compliance with U.S. anti-drug policy.
  • “At that period of time, it was sort of unprecedented to completely, you know, almost shut down the border… to coerce the Mexican government…” (08:04)
• Mexico’s reaction balanced nationalist anti-American rhetoric with reluctant compliance, especially as economic pressure mounted. (10:23)
• Pre-1969, Mexico’s drug policy was ahead of the U.S. (it banned marijuana 17 years earlier), but addiction was rarer, and drug use was stigmatized as lower-class. (11:37)

3. U.S. Drug Policy: Expansion and Sovereignty Issues

• The 1970s and ‘80s saw the U.S. exerting more direct anti-drug influence within Mexico, often testing Mexican sovereignty and trust.
  • “US agents see these efforts as corrupt, inadequate, etc.… Washington doesn’t put a lot of parameters or regulations on its anti drug agents operating in Mexico.” (14:38)
• Distrust of Mexican enforcement fueled U.S. agencies (DEA, CIA) to act unilaterally on Mexican soil, resulting in tension and incidents like the 1985 Camarena murder. (34:14)

4. Mexican State Motivations: Drug Policing vs. Internal Control

• Teague’s core argument: in Mexico, U.S. anti-drug aid and pressure became a tool for the PRI government to suppress leftist dissidents, not only narcotics traffickers.
  • “Mexican policing was largely motivated by the PRI by policing dissidents to the PRI, and not so much policing drugs…” (18:57)
• U.S. misunderstanding of Mexico’s “Cold War” context led to shortsighted support of repressive Mexican security forces—exemplified by events like the Corpus Christi massacre. (18:57–23:38)

5. Militarization and Operation Condor

• Operation Condor, beginning in the late 1970s, brought U.S.-backed aerial herbicide campaigns and army deployments to drug-growing regions (Sinaloa, Durango, Chihuahua).
  • “For the Mexican government, the very large effort on the ground led by the Mexican army was very much about social control and policing of perceived dissidents…” (24:28)
• U.S. policymakers ignored local realities and the damage being done: arbitrary arrests, health scares (herbicide exposure), and undermined trust. (24:28–30:11)
  • “These campaigns were indiscriminately arresting suspected drug producers. A lot of them were children, women, etc.” (27:23)

6. The Camarena Case and DEA Activities in Mexico

• After Operation Condor, frustration with perceived Mexican inadequacy led the DEA to operate more directly and aggressively in Mexico, culminating in the infamous 1985 kidnapping and killing of agent Enrique Camarena.
  • “DEA agents… empowered by working in Mexico, using some of the local customs of policing that wouldn’t be authorized in the United States…” (30:40)
  • The Camarena case exposed the blurred lines between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement and rampant impunity.

7. NAFTA and the Irony of Open Borders

• The 1994 NAFTA agreement paradoxically increased both licit and illicit trade across the border, defying the logic of simultaneous border ‘hardening’ for drugs.
  • “Drugs enter the United States… mostly through licit channels. …You can’t… just shut down illicit trade and open up licit trade.” (35:03)
  • NAFTA’s economic displacement—particularly of small farmers—made drug trafficking more attractive, fueling further criminality. (37:10–40:01)

8. Unintended Consequences: Enforcement and Cartel Evolution

• Escalating enforcement and militarization often accelerated—rather than contained—cartel innovation and brutality.
  • “Enforcement makes the drug trade violent… when that profit starts to be threatened by increased enforcement, what are they going to do? Try to seize back the monopoly of violence.” (40:55)
  • "Most of these trafficking organizations... they're always two steps ahead of... the authorities." (43:05)
• The cycle of violence and repression hurts civilians the most, while overdose rates in the U.S. have soared, not dropped—despite all efforts.
  • “When this enforcement begins in the 1970s, the drug overdose rate… is like 1 in 100,000… in the past couple years it’s been as high as 30 per 100,000.” (45:02)

9. Lessons and Limitations for Policy

• Meaningful progress on drug issues requires the U.S. to recognize its own addiction crisis and approach Mexico as a true partner—not a subordinate state.
  • “Continued firm enforcement by states is going to continue to intensify the consequences of... who has this monopoly on violence.” (43:46)
  • “The United States needs to acknowledge its domestic addiction problem and be a little bit more vocal about it in its bilateral and foreign policies…” (43:58)
• There must be realistic exit strategies for military-led enforcement. Coordinated reforms—not unilateral action—are essential.
  • “There can't be this sort of prolonged militarization of Mexican enforcement... It cannot be a unilateral U.S. effort.” (44:34)
• Policy “solutions” now being proposed are mostly repeats of old mistakes, with little recognition of deeper social and political factors at play on both sides of the border. (50:30)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the book’s provocative title:
  • “This is policing, and this is policing on drugs, implying that there’s quite the intensification and the unintended consequences that come with this type of policing.” (03:13) —Aileen Teague
• On U.S.-Mexican relations:
  • "US agents see these efforts as corrupt, inadequate... they believe that they can do a better job of doing it themselves. And this is what gets to tragedies like the kidnapping and murder of DEA agent Enrique Camarena in 1985." (14:38) —Aileen Teague
• On the paradox of enforcement:
  • “There’s a way of thinking that goes that enforcement makes the drug trade violent.” (40:55) —Aileen Teague
• On lack of progress:
  • “Everything that is being tried right now or being suggested… is something that we’ve done before… and to not always great effect.” (50:30) —Caleb Zakirin

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [03:13] – Author background and book title explanation
• [05:05] – How Teague became interested in Mexico and drug policy
• [08:04] – Operation Intercept and Nixon’s approach
• [10:23] – Mexican governmental response to U.S. border policies
• [14:38] – Expansion of U.S. anti-drug operations in Mexico
• [18:57] – Intersection of Cold War, PRI, and drug policing
• [24:28] – Operation Condor and the roots of militarized anti-drug policing
• [30:40] – The DEA in Mexico and the Camarena murder
• [35:03] – NAFTA and the logic of border policy
• [40:55] – Escalation, cartel evolution, and enforcement paradoxes
• [46:48] – Reflection on failed outcomes and potential new approaches

Tone & Perspective

The discussion is analytic but accessible, balancing historical depth with real-world urgency. Teague’s insights are candid and critical, consistently returning the focus to consequences for ordinary people and institutions on both sides of the border.

Conclusion

This episode offers a sweeping and incisive look at the intertwined fates of U.S. and Mexican anti-drug policies, showing why the “war on drugs” has failed—often spectacularly—on its own professed terms, while opening new avenues for understanding how cross-border enforcement, sovereignty, and social realities shape unintended consequences. Teague’s case study of U.S.–Mexico cooperation reverberates far beyond, making her book essential for anyone seeking to understand contemporary drug policy and its discontents.