Structured distrust pervades the drug trade at every level.

Evidence

As these cases illustrate, the game of trust and distrust in this trade reached unsurpassed heights. When describing the traffic in drugs, even more than other markets, the pentiti—Mannoia in particular—exude suspicion, paranoia, and resentment. They complain of other people’s cheating while boasting of their own. — Diego Gambetta, The Sicilian Mafia The Business of…, 652

Categorization

• XREF: Symmetry with Schelling’s work: the trust game runs BOTH ways (watchmen and watched each cheat), which is what makes state-independent enforcement equilibria so fragile.