Researchers Note: Acronyms of the Mexican Drug War
Acronyms and Translations of Security and Government Agencies in Mexico’s Drug War
John P. Sullivan
Mexico’s drug war is a complex situation involving the police, military, and a range of government agencies facing competition from a number of gangs and cartels. The resulting on-going high intensity crime and criminal insurgencies are increasingly reported by micro-blogs such as Twitter and other social media. Acronyms are an integral part of this reportage.
This reference guide describes the acronyms in current usage. This guide is representative rather than all-inclusive. Mexican law enforcement agencies—like all bureaucracies—are disbanded, consolidated with others and change their names with changing priorities. In the case of Mexico, agency realignment is frequently the result of corrosive corruption penetrating the bureaucracies. New iterations of enforcement agencies replace their corrupted predecessors.
Realignments, for example, have led to the absorption of the Federal Preventive Police/Policía Federal Preventiva (PFP) into the Federal Police/Policía Federal (PF) and the Federal Investigation Agency/Agencia Federal de Investigación (AFI) into the Federal Ministerial Police/Policía Federal Ministerial (PFM), itself an arm of the PGR (Procuraduría General de la República)—Mexico’s Attorney General’s Office. The Gendarmería Nacional (GN) is currently under development. Historic entities, such as the notorious DFS (Dirección Federal de Seguridad/National Security Directorate), are not part of the main listing but illustrate the protean nature of Mexican security agencies.
Mexico has federal, state, and municipal police and prosecutors. At all levels it is common practice to separate patrol and investigative functions into preventive and judicial police, respectively. State prosecutors are generally known as Procuraduría Generales de los Estados (PGE).
Listing all police agencies is near impossible. Nevertheless, some common themes emerge: state preventive police are commonly known as Policía Estatal (PE), while their investigative counterparts are commonly known as Policía Judicial Estatal (PJE). Police reform in Mexico is a work in progress.[1] Currently there is a move to consolidate agencies and form new accredited police such as Nuevo León’s Fuerza Civil (FC).[2]
Mexico also increasingly relies on the military to combat insecurity. Here a complex dynamic between military and police results.[3] As a consequence, this listing includes key defense organizations. Key task forces, prosecutorial agencies, intelligence and other government agencies that are victims of the insecurity, or inform the situation, are also included.[4]
It is expected that this is the first version of many, as the security and organizational landscape in Mexico adapts to address the constantly morphing insecurity. The listing is organized by acronym, Spanish title, and then English title.
Listing of Acronyms and Agencies:
|
Acronym/Siglas |
Spanish/Español |
English/Inglés |
|
AFA: |
Agencia Federal Antisecuestras |
Federal Anti-kidnapping Agency |
|
ARM: |
Armada de México |
Mexican Navy |
|
CES: |
Comisión Estatal de Seguridad |
State Security Commission |
|
CIM (Mexmar): |
Cuerpo de Infanteria de Marina |
Mexican Naval Infantry Corps (i.e., Marines) |
|
CISEN (Cisen): |
Centro de Investigación y Seguridad Nacional |
Center for Research and National Security |
|
CNDH: |
Comisión Nacional de las Derechos Humanos |
National Human Rights Commission |
|
CNI: |
Centro Nacional de Inteligencia |
National Intelligence Center |
|
CNSP: |
Consejo Nacional de Seguridad Pública |
National Public Security Council |
|
EM: |
Ejercito Mexicano |
Mexican Army |
|
FAM: |
Fuerza Aérea Mexicano |
Mexican Air Force |
|
FEADS: |
Fiscalía Especializada de Delitos contra la Salud |
Federal Special Prosecutor for Crimes Against Health |
|
FC: |
Fuerza Civil |
Civil Force |
|
FEADLE: |
Fiscalía Especial para la Atención de Delitos Cometidos con la Libertad de Expresión |
Special Prosecutor on Attention to Crimes Committed Against Freedom of Expression |
|
Fevimtra: |
Fiscalía Especial para los Delitos de Violencia contra las Mujeres y la Trata de Personas |
Special Prosecutor’s Office for Violence Against Women and Human Trafficking |
|
GAFE: |
Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales |
Special Forces Airmobile Group |
|
GAFE del Alto Mano: |
Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales Alto Mando |
Special Forces Airmobile Group-High Command |
|
GN: |
Gendarmería Nacional |
National Gendarmerie |
|
GOPES: |
Grupo de Operaciones Especiales |
Special Operations Group (of PF) |
|
GROMS: |
Grupo de Reacción Operativa del Municipio de Saltillo |
Operational Reaction Group of Saltillo |
|
INCD: |
Instituto Nacional de Combate a las Drogas |
National Institute to Combat Drugs |
|
INEGI: |
Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía |
National Institute of Statistics and Geography |
|
INM: |
Instituto Nacional de Migración |
Mexican Immigration Service |
|
INSP: |
Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública |
National Institute for Public Health |
|
PDF: |
Policial Distrito Federal |
Federal District Police |
|
PEMEX (Pemex): |
Petróleos Mexicanos |
Mexican Petroleum |
|
PE: |
Policía Estatal |
State Police |
|
PEP: |
Policía Estatal Preventivo |
State Preventive Police |
|
PESP: |
Policía Estatal de Seguridad Publica |
State Public Security Police |
|
PEU: |
Policía Estatal Única |
Unified State Police |
|
PF: |
Policía Federal |
Federal Police (SSP) |
|
PFC: |
Policía Federal de Caminos |
Federal Highway Police |
|
PFF: |
Policía Fiscal Federal |
Federal Fiscal Police |
|
PFM: |
Policía Federal Ministerial |
Federal Ministerial Police (PGR) |
|
PGE: |
Procuraduría Generales de los Estados |
Offices of the Public Prosecutors of the States |
|
PGJE: |
Procuraduría General Justicia del Estado |
State Attorney General |
|
PGJDF: |
Procuraduría General de Justicia del Distrito Federal |
Attorney General of the Federal District |
|
PGR: |
Procuraduría General de la República |
Attorney General of Mexico |
|
PJE: |
Policía Judicial Estatal |
State Judicial Police |
|
PJPF: |
Policía Judicial del Distrito Federal |
Judicial Police of the Federal District |
|
PMF: |
Policía Ministerial de la Fiscalía |
Public Prosecutors Ministerial Police |
|
SAT: |
Servicio de Administración Tributaria (Aduanas) |
Tax Administration Service (Customs) |
|
SEDENA: |
Secretaría de la Defensa Nacional |
National Defense Secretariat |
|
SEGOB (Segob): |
Secretaría de Gobernación |
Secretary of Governance (i.e., Interior Minister) |
|
SEIDO [5]: |
Subprocuraduría Especializada en Investigación de Delincuencia Organizada |
Assistant Attorney General’s Office for Special Investigations of Organized Crime |
|
SEMAR: |
Secretaría de Marina |
Secretariat of the Navy |
|
SEMARNAT: |
Secretaría de medio ambiente y recursos naturales |
Secretariat of Environment and Natural resources |
|
SESNSP: |
Secretarado Ejecutivo del Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública |
Executive Secretary for the National Public Security System (SNSP) |
|
SHCP (Crédita): |
Secretaría de Hacienda y Crédito Publico |
Secretariat of Finance and Public Credit |
|
SNSP: |
Sistema Nacional de Seguridad Pública |
National Public Security System |
|
SPM: |
Seguridad Pública Municipal |
Municipal Public Security |
|
SSP: |
Secretaría de Seguridad Pública |
Public Security Secretariat |
|
SSPDF: |
Secretaría de Seguridad Pública del Distrito Federal |
Public Security Secretariat of the Federal District |
|
SSPE: |
Secretaría de Seguridad Pública del Estado |
Public Security Secretariat of the State |
Notes:
[1] See Daniel Sabet, Police Reform in Mexico: Informal Politics and the Challenge of Institutional Change, Palo Alto: Stanford University Press, 2012.
[2] For example, Nuevo León is creating a new state service called “Sistema de Policía Acreditable” (Accredited Police System), also known as “Fuerza Civil” (Civil Force) to replace corrupted police. See “Nuevo León Implements New Police Reforms,” Justice in Mexico, 01 June 2011 at http://justiceinmexico.org/2011/06/01/monterrey-implements-new-police-reforms/
[3] See John P. Sullivan, “Police-Military Interaction in Mexico’s Drug War,” Air & Space Power Journal (Spanish Edition), October 2009.
[4] Some key task forces, such as Grupos Beta (de protección al migrante) an immigrant protection detail of the Mexican immigration service (Instituto Nacional de Migración–INM) are not listed as its title is not an acronym, although their home agency is listed.
[5] Formerly SIEDO (Subprocuraduría de Investigación Especializada en Delencuencia Organizada/Assistant Attorney General’s Office of the Special Prosecutor for Organized Crime).
About the Author(s)
Dr. John P. Sullivan was a career police officer. He is an honorably retired lieutenant with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department, specializing in emergency operations, transit policing, counterterrorism, and intelligence. He is currently an Instructor in the Safe Communities Institute (SCI) at the Sol Price School of Public Policy, University of Southern California. Sullivan received a lifetime achievement award from the National Fusion Center Association in November 2018 for his contributions to the national network of intelligence fusion centers. He completed the CREATE Executive Program in Counter-Terrorism at the University of Southern California and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Government from the College of William and Mary, a Master of Arts in Urban Affairs and Policy Analysis from the New School for Social Research, and a PhD from the Open University of Catalonia (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya). His doctoral thesis was “Mexico’s Drug War: Cartels, Gangs, Sovereignty and the Network State.” He can be reached at [email protected].