Small Wars Journal

cartels

Considering Cross-Border Cartel Corruption Potentials in the United States

Thu, 01/16/2020 - 8:40am
Criminal cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) rely on corruption to enable their pursuit of criminal profit and power. Indeed, Mexico’s cartels emerged from the seeds of corrupt police profiting from the narcotics trade. While violence is the public face of criminal cartels and transnational gangs, corruption is the core threat to public trust and state legitimacy and capacity.

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The Cartel’s Colour

Fri, 09/06/2019 - 1:39am
Corruption, money laundering and alliances with national and Brazilians’ drug dealers and with the Russian mafia. Mexico’s “El Chapo” Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel is in Portugal and has set up a cocaine transhipment base for central and northern Europe. The Mexican drug dealer sons control the cocaine shipment to Portugal. This article was originally published as “A cor do cartel” at the Portuguese magazine Expresso (Lisbon) on 17 August 2019.

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Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #39: GoPro Video Social Media Posting of Cártel Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) Tactical Action against Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in Guanajuato - Indications & Warning (I&W) Concerns SWJED Tue, 03/05/2019 - 11:38am
While this is presently a one-off (I&W) type incident, more such Mexican cartel FPS type videos posted to social media are now inevitable although the rate at which they will proliferate is unknown. Further, futures projections suggest that an eventual follow on cartel social media TTP to this CSRL GoPro taped tactical action will be the live streaming of such FPS immersive experiences—rather than their posting to social media after the fact.
Malignant Legions: Treating the Strategic Cancer of the Cartel de los Soles SWJED Tue, 12/18/2018 - 6:41pm
Mapping the Cartel de los Soles in order to identify individuals that were entrenched in the network but untargeted by U.S. sanctions, as well as discover subgroups and seams which could be influenced as a means to provide opportunity to the opposition.
Are Armed Drones the Weapon of the Future for Mexico’s Cartels? SWJED Thu, 08/16/2018 - 12:22am
Mexico’s powerful drug cartels could be using armed drones to attack those impeding their criminal operations, marking the potential expansion of the use of this technology from just transporting drugs or carrying out surveillance.

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #37: Kidnapped SEIDO Intelligence Officers Appear in Cartel Video; Subsequently Found Murdered

Wed, 02/21/2018 - 8:14am

This incident has the potential to raise the stakes in the contest between the CJNG and the Mexican state following what is essentially tantamount to a CJNG declaration of war.

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Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 24: Cartel and Gang Provision of Post-Earthquake Humanitarian Aid SWJED Sat, 10/21/2017 - 8:17pm

The provision of such aid—usually a symbolic effort—should be considered a component of ongoing cartel ‘information operations’

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #34: Recent .50 Cal Sniper Rifle Seizures SWJED Fri, 09/22/2017 - 10:21pm

The sniper rifle has become a preferred weapon for cartels since a round can penetrate walls, steel, and the sides of unarmored and even moderately armored vehicles.

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