El Centro

How to Win the Mexican Drug War - Washington Post Op-Ed by Viridiana Rios.

Via Borderland Beat: The Mexican Office of Attorney General (PGR: Procuraduria General de la Republica) has decided to restrict official reports about organized crime in the country for 12 years.

A Baker Institute analysis from SWJ's El Centro Fellow Nathan Jones.

A new Texas Department of Public Safety Threat Assessment report states that criminal cartels are operating in Texas and are the No. 1 threat to the Lone Star State. Narcobloqueos (narco-blockades) are now being seen north of the border.

Wealthy, business-savvy Mexican immigrants transform Texas city by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, Los Angeles Times.

Europe faces serious security challenges that continue to grow in scale and sophistication.

The International Crisis Group published a new report on 'criminal cartels' in Mexico. The report Peña Nieto’s Challenge: Criminal Cartels and Rule of Law in Mexico, is the International Crisis Group's first report on Mexico.

A Mexico Border Shootout Reveals Effort to Cover Up Violence - Written by InSight Crime.

Little attention has been paid to non-state actors conducting cyberwars against each other and the disruptive effects these wars can have on nation-states. By Paul Rexton Kan.

Spread of Vigilantes Sparks Debate in Mexico by Mark Stevenson, Associated Press.

MOGO (Making Order using Google as an Oracle) is highly cost effective and provides very significant OSINT (open source intelligence) analytical capabilities via a web crawler approach.

This may very well be the first targeted assassination of a Mexican public safety official by a sniper utilizing a .50 cal rifle.

SWJ El Centro Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown's new paper.

Mexican Cartel Tactical Note # 17 : Indications & Warnings (I&W) for Small Caliber Mortar Deployment.

The writings of SWJ El Centro Fellows John Sullivan, Paul Kan, and Robert Bunker are mentioned in a work with an anti-statist and anti-capitalist perspective.

Santa Muerte: Inspired and Ritualistic Killings (Part 1 of 3)

Drug traffickers utilize “saints” and spirits to protect themselves from U.S. law enforcement. Some information and support for law enforcement officers.

US Military Expands its Drug War in Latin America by Martha Mendoza, Associated Press.

An overview of the recent findings of the Justice in Mexico Project.

Via Borderland Beat: "For more than 48 hours armed men held the entire town of Marcos Castellanos hostage, killing two people and kidnapping a police officer. After the attack most of the police force resigned…”

Grenades are becoming more and more common in Mexico with thousands seized from the gangs and cartels and are becoming an officer safety concern on this side of the border.

Rare photos of receovered cartel car bomb are reminiscent of IEDs found in Iraq.

Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto plans to create a Gendarmería Nacional, initially of 10,000 officers, to police the contested plazas and regions impacted by insecurity.