El Centro

Harvard Tracks Mexican Drug Gangs via Google by Hannah Stone of InSightCrime.

Tracking the Steady Rise of Beheadings in Mexico by Elyssa Pachico of InSightCrime.

Mexico’s Drug Lords Ramp Up Their Arsenals with RPGs by Ioan Grillo, Time Magazine.

With 60,000 Dead, Mexicans Wonder Why Drug War Doesn't Rate in Presidential Debate by Sara Miller Llana, Christian Science Monitor.

It’s great to be back at Small Wars Journal. It’s been nearly a year since my last post. Since then, I returned to the United States after 24 consecutive months in Afghanistan and assumed command of U.S. Army North (Fifth Army).  I’d like to take a moment to talk about this incredible organization, especially our continuing partnership with Mexico's Secretariat of National Defense, or SEDENA. 

Many crime control strategies developed today are based upon successes of the past. Given the complex nature of the environment, the chances for these strategies to achieve real success are limited.

SWJ El Centro Fellows Vanda Felbab-Brown and Eduardo Salcedo-Albarán Highlighted in Article.

Mexican Drug Cartels Fight Turf Battles in Chicago by Armen Keteyian, CBS News.

Mexico Cartel May Have Targeted CIA by E. Eduardo Castillo, Associated Press.

Via Fox News: 2 US Border Agents Shot, 1 Killed, Near Major Drug Corridor in Arizona

Mexican Cartels Operating Throughout the Western Hemisphere: "Mexico’s drug cartels now have a foothold in 16 countries in the Western Hemisphere".

Piedras Negras, Coahuila, Mexico under martial law after multiple gun Battles.

Mexico Captures Zetas Drug Lord Ivan Velazquez Caballero via the Beeb.

The intent of this note is to update the Mexican cartel tactical note series with some archival information dating back to 2009. The following Mexican cartel weapons should be considered rare and have been encountered sporadically as in the case of .50 cal. machine guns and singularly (potentially) as in the case of surface-to-air missiles.

Mexico Deploys Troops to Outskirts of Mexico City: This deployment may represent another “firebreak” crossed concerning the criminal insurgencies taking place in Mexico.

Mexico's Gulf cartel will likely survive arrest of high-level leaders.

This new Military Review article supports the perception that a ‘commercial insurgency’ is taking place in Mexico.

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #13: Man Crucified in Michoacán, Mexico.

There has been a dominant narrative in the study of Mexican drug trafficking which argues that violence goes down when one dominant trafficking organization monopolizes a locale.

More on Mexican Federal Police firing on a US Embassy vehicle via the New York Times.

The New Security Reality: Not Business as Usual - A Strategic Studies Institute Op-Ed by Dr. Max Manwaring.

Transnational Organized Crime, Terrorism, and Criminalized States in Latin America: An Emerging Tier-One National Security Priority by Douglas Farah, Strategic Studies Institute.