Decreased Cocaine Flows Lead to Increased Extortion in Northern Colombia
A decline in drug trafficking in northern Colombia has led to a rise in extortion as increasingly fragmented criminal groups…
Is Northeast Cartel Expansion Driving Killings of Police in Nuevo León, Mexico?
Killings of police officers in Mexico’s northern state of Nuevo León have increased 143% between 2019 and 2022 amid a…
Does US Policy Exacerbate Migrant Kidnappings on the US-Mexico Border?
It was just after dawn when Ricardo Montes* saw nearly a dozen armed men in two pickup trucks arrive at…
The Gauntlet: One Migrant’s Journey from Venezuela to the US-Mexico Border
More than two months of travel across eight countries. Regular run-ins with corrupt police and migration officials, organized crime groups,…
Sinaloa’s Rat, Jalisco’s Rooster: The Evolution of Cartel Patches in Mexico
The discovery of a previously unknown military-style patch identifying a specialized drone warfare unit within Mexico’s CJNG highlights the range…
Gulf Cartel Still ‘Public Enemy No. 1’ on US-Mexico Border: Homeland Security
The Gulf Cartel has maintained a presence along the US-Mexico border across from south Texas for nearly a century, but…
Is Mexico’s CJNG Pushing the Gulf Cartel from Tamaulipas?
The speculation regarding the latest mega-battle for control over Mexico’s underworld started with a two-minute video that first appeared on…
Will Designating Mexican Crime Groups as Terrorists Help Fight Them?
US officials are considering designating Mexican drug trafficking organizations as terrorist groups, but labeling criminals as terrorists would mischaracterize the…
Matamoros: a Symptom of Mexico’s Larger Illness
It took the dramatic killing of two US citizens in early March to put Matamoros on the criminal map, but…
Mexico’s Gulf Cartel Doing Damage Control After Kidnapping, Murdering US Citizens
A faction of one of Mexico’s older organized crime groups is doing damage control with a cheap public relations campaign…