Women Drug Traffickers: Mules, Bosses, and Organized Crime

The foundational historical work on gender and the drug trade. Drawing on international diplomatic documents, trial transcripts, medical and public welfare studies, correspondence between drug czars, and prison and hospital records, Carey reconstructs women’s roles across the drug economy from the early twentieth century forward — not just as mules and addicts but as bosses, business partners, money launderers, and network architects. Her case studies include Lola la Chata of Mexico City and La Nacha of Juárez. Carey rejects the good-versus-evil framing that dominates popular drug history and presents a more morally complex picture of women (and men) turning to drug trafficking to escape poverty.