The types of narcoterrorism are explored with examples drawn from South America and based on field interviews and analysis of international press and wire service reports. Particular focus is placed on Peru's Sendero Luminoso and Colombia's FARC and M-19 insurgent-terrorist groups and their links to cocaine trafficking. Terrorism is a political concept, but narcoterrorism is an economic concept; a shorthand label used to identify the many different ways that the economics of illegal drug production and distribution can be tied to violence and terrorist activity. Narcoterrorism can be a determinant of the direction that a guerilla or insurgent movement will take and its impact on international drug trafficking and local government stability. Narcoterrorism demands focused study because of its potential threat to the social order and because of its seeming inevitability in areas where trafficking and insurgency are co-located. 47 references.