Checkpost Chess: Exploring the relationship between between insurgents and illicit trade

While conflict and transnational crime often make for a heady mix, the role of non-state armed groups in the smuggling economy remains understudied. By exploring the relationships non-state armed groups have with the state, traders, and smugglers, this paper seeks to elucidate how the three create and mould the informal cross-border economy. Drawing on the case of Moreh at the Indo-Myanmar border, home to various non-state armed groups and a vibrant smuggling economy, it investigates the micro-dynamics of the way fees and access of goods and vehicles across the border are negotiated by non-state armed groups, explores how non-state armed groups incentivise smuggling, and examines the effect of ceasefires and other agreements geared towards reducing violence on the smuggling economy.