Mexico is home to some of the hemisphere’s largest, most sophisticated and violent organized criminal groups. These organizations have drawn from Mexico’s long history of smuggling and its close proximity to the United States, the world’s largest economy, to grow into a regional threat.
International experts are predicting continued high levels of migration from Venezuela, which could prove a boon for organized crime groups that have already capitalized on the ongoing exodus and confusion…
In Mexico, criminal groups have prohibited fentanyl production, and the state extradited a top trafficker. Could this mean new US-Mexico counternarcotic relations?…
Killings of police officers in Mexico’s northern state of Nuevo León have increased 143% between 2019 and 2022 amid a broader uptick in homicides, which overlaps with the Northeast Cartel’s…
Mexico is home to some of the hemisphere’s largest, most sophisticated and violent organized criminal groups. These organizations have drawn from Mexico’s long history of smuggling and its close proximity to the United States, the world’s largest economy, to grow into a regional threat. Their networks stretch from Argentina to Canada and even into Europe. They traffic in illegal drugs, contraband, arms and humans, and launder their proceeds through regional moneychangers, banks and local economic projects. Their armament, training and tactics have become increasingly sophisticated as the Mexican government has ramped up efforts to combat them.
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Mexico's criminal landscape has morphed in recent years from one dominated by a handful of powerful cartels into a fragmented web of nearly 200 criminal groups defined by fragile and fast-changing alliances. While the Sinaloa Cartel and Jalisco Cartel New Generation (CJNG) still dominate the scene, other upstart, hyperviolent groups have carved out a place for themselves through oil theft and other predatory crimes like extortion and kidnapping.
Human trafficking is prevalent and pervasive in Ciudad Juárez, and relies on either direct state participation, malpractice, or indifference.
In Tijuana, local pimps often form part of small, family-based human trafficking networks, which can also work with organized crime groups.
Human trafficking is one of the most complex and misunderstood criminal economies in the world. This is especially true along the US-Mexico border.
The sentencing of notorious Colombian drug trafficker Chupeta marks the end of a lucrative and bloody career.
A new book by journalist Deborah Bonello examines the roles women play in organized crime and argues that their participation in criminal activities deserves further study. In…
Three cases in recent weeks highlight how Colombian groups continue to dominate loansharking schemes across Central and South America…
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