Crime wars: Operational perspectives on criminal armed groups in Mexico and Brazil

This highlight is about Crime wars: Operational perspectives on criminal armed groups in Mexico and Brazil by Dr. John Sullivan of Small Wars Journal El Centro, published in International Review of the Red Cross. 

Abstract:

Violent conflicts involving non-State armed groups challenge conventional perceptions of war and armed conflict. Criminal enterprises (transnational organized criminal groups including gangs and cartels) are involved in violent competition for both profit and territorial control in many parts of the world. This paper examines the situation in Mexico and Brazil as case studies to assess the legal challenges to criminal armed violence when criminal groups battle among themselves and the State. The paper focuses on the operational challenges and considerations facing police, military, and security forces and justice institutions to illuminate the legal challenges.

The paper is laid out as follows:

We are providing a short summary of each heading and subheading of the piece. For an in-depth analysis, please read this well-cited paper here.

Introduction

• • Imagine a world where criminal groups challenge state authority with military-like precision. This isn’t a movie plot—it’s the reality of modern crime wars, where gangs, cartels, and militias wage sophisticated battles against governments and each other.

Crime wars and criminal insurgency

• • • Criminal armed groups (CAGs) are no longer simple street gangs. They’ve evolved into complex organizations with political ambitions, capable of controlling territories, challenging state legitimacy, and using advanced tactics that blur the lines between crime and warfare.

The challenges of violent competition

• • These groups use violence as a strategic tool—not just for profit, but to shape social perceptions, control territories, and erode state power. Their methods include symbolic violence, targeted assassinations, and sophisticated propaganda techniques that challenge traditional understanding of conflict.

Mexico’s Criminal Conflicts

• • Background on the conflict
    • Mexico’s drug war has transformed into a complex battlefield. With over 300,000 deaths and 357,000 internally displaced persons, the conflict involves multiple cartels like the Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) and Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) fighting both each other and the state.
  • Current major players and operations
    • Cartels now use military-grade tactics: drive-by shootings, car bombs, armed assaults, and even shooting down military helicopters. The CDS and CJNG demonstrate how criminal groups have become quasi-military organizations.

Gangs, militias, and the State in Brazil

• • High-intensity crime
    • Brazilian criminal factions like the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) have evolved beyond traditional gangs. They conduct sophisticated bank robberies, prison riots, and even recruit former guerrilla fighters
  • Current operations and the “Novo Cangaço”
    • The piece surveys spectacular criminal tactics like sophisticated urban warfare and the creation of a modern, high-tech version of historical brigandage (definition: a member of a gang that ambushes and robs people in mountains and forests).
  • Criminal enclaves and competitive control
    • Criminal groups in Brazil have transformed favelas into “criminal enclaves” – territories where traditional state power becomes secondary to criminal governance.

Narcocultura and social modification

• • Criminal groups aren’t just fighting—they’re building alternative social narratives. Through “narcocultura,” they create folk heroes, use symbolic violence, and provide social services to gain community legitimacy.

Humanitarian considerations

• • The human cost is staggering: mass migrations, disappeared persons, targeted attacks on healthcare workers, and entire regions becoming “zones of impunity.”

Advanced TTPs (Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures)

• • Anti-vehicle landmines
  • Weaponized drones

COVID-19 and criminal conflicts

• • The pandemic became an opportunity for criminal groups to enhance their control, impose curfews, provide aid, and further erode state legitimacy.

Controversies in categorizing conflict

• • Is this war? Crime? The boundaries are increasingly blurred, challenging legal and operational responses.

Conclusion

• • This piece is not solely about crime, it’s about the fundamental challenges to state sovereignty, governance, and social order. The future of conflict is being rewritten by these sophisticated criminal enterprises.