While military pressure has been exerted in all coca-producing nations at different times, the military defeat of guerrilla organizations, such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, known as FARC, or the Sendero Luminoso, hasn't halted the cocaine mafias' operations and ability to adapt to narcotics-control efforts because the goals of the cartels and the guerrillas are intrinsically different. (Cocaine: The New Front Lines," Review, Jan. 14).

Since the defeat of the Cali Cartel in 1995, the mafias have developed an organizational structure similar to a multiheaded hydra, which can't be defeated by killing one head. Learning from the Medellin and Cali cartels, the mafias keep a low profile and feed their inputs into Mexico where the cartels vie for control over the drug trade.

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