Sean Kennedy for AEIdeas: As the heroin market has expanded, gangs have fought territory battles over the new customers, resulting in terrible consequences for communities caught in the crossfire.

For St. Louis in particular, officials have directly linked cartel-related turf wars to an increase in the city’s homicide rate, and at a recent Senate hearing, DEA head Chuck Rosenberg called increased drug trafficking a factor in the national rise of violent crime.

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