Timeline: Key events in U.S. war on drugs in Latin America
By Admin Friday, January 15, 2010(Reuters) - Following is a timeline of the key events in the U.S. war on drugs in Latin America.
1970 - The United States passes laws prohibiting narcotics use under the Controlled Substances Act.
1971 - U.S. President Richard Nixon declares a war on drugs and says drug abuse is the country’s biggest threat.
1973 - Nixon sets up the Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA.
1975 - Drug gangs kill 40 people in one weekend in the Colombian city of Medellin after police seize 1,320 pounds (600 kgs) of cocaine in one of the first ever big drug hauls.
1981 - Drug lord Pablo Escobar forms the Medellin Cartel with other powerful Colombian traffickers. The cartel begins to move tonnes of cocaine into Miami via the Caribbean.
1982 - Escobar briefly wins a seat in Colombia’s Congress as he cuts a Robin Hood figure in Medellin, giving out money in slums and building houses for the poor… more
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