Based on the concepts and research of Dwight Smith and Alan Block, which support a paradigm of drug trafficking business practices that parallel those of legitimate business, this paper examines the characteristics of the drug networks in the five countries. An analysis of the operations of the Medellin and Cali drug cartels in Colombia demonstrates the sophistication, both in the use of technology and business strategies, of the leadership. Flexibility is also a hallmark of Colombian drug operations. As law enforcement efforts have had their impact, the cocaine trade in Colombia has been decentralized, making it more difficult to control trafficking. Traffickers operate independently, and some of the major responsibilities for cocaine smuggling and wholesaling have been given to drug trafficking syndicates in Mexico. Although Mexican criminal syndicates have been involved in drug trafficking for decades, primarily marijuana and heroin, only recently have they become significant participants in the cocaine market, first as surrogates for and then as partners of Colombian drug syndicates. Mexico's border with the United States and the enormous flow of legitimate commerce between the two countries have facilitated the flow of narcotics into the United States. The structure and operations of Mexican drug syndicates are compartmentalized, but they exhibit a stronger chain of command from their Mexican bases than other drug syndicates. Albanian drug traffickers operate as small, highly localized, but increasingly important, organized crime groups of Albanian descent, launching their trafficking primarily from Kosovo or Albania itself. Albanian syndicates have been moving into the cities of the northeastern United States for the last several years. Dominican drug trafficking organizations began as retail cocaine dealers in emigrant communities in the United States. As a result of the business arrangement with Colombian cocaine traffickers, two major Dominican drug syndicates emerged. They still make heavy use of violence as a means of establishing their reputation and protecting their turf. Nigerian-based organized crime groups have been heavily involved in the smuggling of large quantities of southeast Asian heroin into the United States since the mid-1980's; by the end of the 20th century, Nigerian traffickers controlled 57 to 90 percent of the market for southeast Asian heroin in the United States. 18 references