Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #34: Recent .50 Cal Sniper Rifle Seizures
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.
Mexico
The Mexican Cartel Conundrum: Policy Reform is More Effective Than Waging War
Cartels are born from greed but they are also byproducts of Mexico’s flawed policies.
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Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 23: Prison Riot and Massacre in Acapulco, Guerrero; Attack Allegedly During Santa Muerte Ritual
SWJED
Thu, 07/20/2017 - 8:40am
This prison riot and resulting massacre is one of the most serious disturbances in a Mexican prison since February 2016.
Narco-Drones: A New Way to Transport Drugs
A narcotrafficking technique first used in Mexico now expands to other countries in Central and South America.
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Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 22
Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 22: Spiritual Appropriation of San Judas Tadeo and Santo Niño de Atocha—Criminal Petitions and Santo Niño Huachicolero.
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Hooked: Mexico’s Violence and U.S. Demand for Drugs
Hooked: Mexico’s Violence and U.S. Demand for Drugs
SWJ El Centro Fellow Vanda Felbab-Brown has a new essay out. In “Hooked: Mexico’s Violence and U.S. Demand for Drugs," published by the Brookings Institution’s Order from Chaos blog on May 30th, 2017, Vanda Felbab-Brown explains that, with a total of 177,000 drug-related murders having taken place within Mexico from 2007 to 2017, Mexico’s conflict is more intense than many civil wars and insurgencies around the world.
In 2016, the drug wars in Mexico claimed between 21,000 and 23,000 lives. That’s back to the peak levels of 2010 to 2012, when up to 23,000 people died each year in drug-related homicides. Between 2007 and 2017, a total of 177,000 people were murdered—but that may actually under-count, since many bodies are hidden in mass graves that may have never been found. Tens of thousands of people have also been internally displaced. In short, Mexico’s conflict is more intense than many civil wars and insurgencies around the world.
When Enrique Peña Nieto became president five years ago, he and the Mexican public sought to put the drug war behind them. Promising to cut down the murder rate by 50 percent in his first six months, he instead focused on Mexico’s badly needed energy, economic, and education reforms. He indeed succeeded at getting important measures passed, though implementation has been a challenge.
Meanwhile, although the drug market initially calmed in his first two years, the wars among Mexico’s criminal groups have been relentless. The violence has returned to areas where progress seemed to have been achieved—such as Tijuana and Cuidad Juárez—but continues to rage ferociously in Guerrero, Michoacán, and Tamaulipas, and spread to new areas, including Mexico’s center and south.
Multiple immediate and structural causes are driving the persistence and intensification of the criminal violence, including particularly cartel fragmentation and turf war on the one hand, and weak rule of law and problematic policy choices on the other…
Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 21
Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 21: Quantifying Conflict in Mexico - Armed Conflict, Hyper-Violent Criminality or Both?
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Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #33: Terrorist TTP Firebreak Crossed - Criminal Group Utilizes Women and Children as Human Shields in Palmarito, Puebla
This appears to be the first known incident in the Mexican criminal insurgency in which the TTP of utilizing women and children as human shields has taken place.
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Dragon on the Border: Mexican and Chinese Transnational Criminal Networks and Implications for the United States
As China continues deepening commercial ties with LatAm, it is possible the increased flow of goods and people could present more opportunities for Chinese triads to expand their operations.
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Developing Military Forces to Counter Hybrid Threats: Mexico’s Marines
SWJED
Sun, 03/12/2017 - 12:54pm
How does a nation facing a serious internal threat develop the security institutions needed to protect its populace and what does a modern military force postured to defeat hybrid threats look like?