El Centro

Narco-Politics: How Mexico Got There and How It Can Get Out by Pamela F. Izaguirre, Council on Hemispheric Affairs.

The arrest on August 17 of the leader of Cártel del Golfo (Gulf Cartel), Mario Ramirez Treviño, better known as X-20 as well as the capture this past July of the leader of Los Zetas (The Zetas), Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, the Z-40, are nothing more than superficial achievements for Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s eight-month-old administration. As much as the U.S. and Mexican governments celebrate what is described as a successful blow to organized crime, in reality, the arrest will not significantly change Mexico’s current security problems.

The narco-business in the country is much more complex, unlike Colombia, where the 1993 elimination of Pablo Escobar meant the beginning of the disappearance of the power of the Medellin cartel; according to British journalist Ioan Grillo, in Mexico the problem is far more ingrained. Mexico is a dangerously fragmented country - one where a series of illegal networks have been historically intertwined with the government; where federal and military authorities are not always on the same side; and where drug traffic organizations (DTO’s) have been gaining more territory and becoming more powerful, particularly recent decades. Mexico’s geography has become its own curse due to its fertile land, where it is ideal to grow illegal substances and traffic them to U.S. consumers...

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Viernes Video: New Suspense Film Highlights Dangerous Life of a Narcoblogger - Latina Lista.

No other city in Mexico is as synonymous with the brutality of cartel drug violence as Juarez, Mexico. Once declared the most dangerous city in the world, reports are surfacing that the city is slowly recovering - but it has a long way to go.

Senseless murders of citizens and deadly attacks against journalists continue. One of the major consequences of the cartel warfare has been its attempts to silence the media. With surprise gun and grenade attacks on news offices and outright abductions and murders of journalists, the public’s right to know about what is happening in their communities and cities has been severely censored, if not ignored by the local media out of fear of the cartels.

Yet, no matter how much the cartels tried, and continue to try, to hide their evil acts with continued threats against journalists, a group of citizens emerged to fill in the gap of local cartel coverage - narcobloggers…

Here's the trailer (in Spanish with English subtitles):

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Cartel Car Bombings in Mexico by SWJ-El Centro Senior Fellows Robert Bunker and John Sullivan, Strategic Studies Institute. Here is a synopsis:

Contemporary Mexican cartel use of car bombs began in mid-July 2010 and has since escalated. Given the proximity to the United States, some literally within miles of the border, the car bombings, with about 20 incidents identified over the last 2 1/2 years, should be of interest to local, state, and federal U.S. law enforcement, the U.S. Army, and other governmental institutions which are providing increasing support to Mexican federal agencies. An historical overview and analysis of cartel car bomb use in Mexico provides context, insights, and lessons learned stemming from the Medellin and Cali cartel car bombing campaigns. In order to generate insights into future cartel car bombings in Mexico, the identification of such potentials offers a glimpse into cartel “enemy intent,” a possible form of actionable strategic intelligence. For Mexico, steady and both slowly and quickly increasing car bomb use trajectories may exist. The prognosis for decreasing car bomb deployment appears unlikely. If cartel car bombs were to be deployed on U.S. soil or against U.S. personnel and facilities in Mexico, such as our consulates, we could expect that a pattern of indications and warnings (I&W) would be evident prior to such an attack(s). In that case, I&W would be drawn from precursor events such as grenade and improvised explosive device (IED) attacks (or attempted attacks) on our personnel and facilities and on evolving cartel car bomb deployment patterns in Mexico. The authors conclude with initial recommendations for U.S. Army and defense community support to the military and the federal, state, and local police agencies of the Mexican state, and the various U.S. federal, state, and local police agencies operating near the U.S.-Mexican border. The extent of support in intelligence, organization, training, and equipment is highlighted, as well as the extent that these forms of support should be implemented to counter cartel vehicle-borne IEDs and overall cartel threats.

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SWJ-El Centro Fellow Robert Killebrew has a new op-ed at War on the Rocks - Iran’s Cartel Strategy: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the Western Hemisphere. In the piece, Colonel Killebrew assesses the convergence between TCOs and the IRGC/Quds Force in the Western Hemisphere.

US Angry Over Release of Mexican Drug Lord - Associated Press.

... Caro Quintero was sentenced to 40 years in prison for the 1985 kidnapping and killing of DEA agent Enrique Camarena but a Mexican federal court ordered his release this week saying he had been improperly tried in a federal court for state crimes.

The 60-year-old walked out of a prison in the western state of Jalisco early Friday after serving 28 years of his sentence...

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More:

2 Cases Boost Suspicion of Mexican Justice - LAT

Mexican Tied to Killing of DEA Agent Freed - NYT

Mexico Drug Kingpin Caro Quintero Ordered Released - AP

Mexico Court Frees Drugs Kingpin Rafael Caro Quintero - BBC

Mexican Cartels Hiring US Soldiers as Hit Men - Joseph J. Kolb, Fox News.

Mexican cartels are recruiting hit men from the U.S. military, offering big money to highly-trained soldiers to carry out contract killings and potentially share their skills with gangsters south of the border, according to law enforcement experts...

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