This podcast episode features Nicholas Magliocca, LCLUC Principal Investigator, alongside Kendra McSweeney (Ohio State University) and Fritz Pinnow (Honduras-based journalist and photographer). The discussion centers on the emerging trend of coca leaf cultivation in Central America, a region historically unaffected by this crop, which has been primarily associated with the Andean countries.

A recent article in The Guardian highlighted research on the environmental impacts of narco-trafficking in Central America, citing a study published in Nature Sustainability. The study, led by Nicholas Magliocca, a Principal Investigator (PI) of an LCLUC project at the University of Alabama, reveals how cocaine trafficking contributes to deforestation in the Mesoamerican Biological Corridor (MBC), a biodiversity hotspot with significant conservation value.