The informal regulation of an illegal trade: the hidden politics of drugs detective work

Despite the apparent failure of policy initiatives and policing interventions to adequately regulate the illegal drug trade, remarkably few social scientists have endeavoured to examine the drug control activities of the police. Scholars have, in particular, neglected to study the specialist detective units mandated to police drug markets by detecting, investigating and ultimately prosecuting drug dealers. Drawing on the findings of a novel ethnographic study, this article explores the dynamic interaction between the formal and informal aspects of police organisations and offers an insight into the world of police detectives and the policing of drugs.