InSight Crime’s Co-Director Steven Dudley and Managing Editor Deborah Bonello separate fact from fiction around the security risks in Mexico for tourists coming to the World Cup, and look back at the connection between organized crime and soccer.
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[00:00:00] Deborah: It’s World Cup time, and millions of visitors are expected to travel to Mexico’s host cities, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey, in the next few weeks. I’m Deborah Bonello, managing editor of InSight Crime, where, of course, we specialize in profiling, analyzing, and documenting organized crime groups across the Americas, and organized crime groups have a presence in all three of the World Cup cities.
In this week’s InSight Take, co-director Steven Dudley and I are going to try and separate fact from fiction, asking whether tourists really should be worried for their safety, especially after the US just published yet another travel warning for most of Mexico. We’ll also be asking how criminal groups seek to profit from one of the world’s biggest sporting events, and what soccer’s history is with the mafia. Steve, thanks for joining me today.
[00:00:54] Steven: Thanks, Deb.
[00:00:56] Deborah: All right. Well, let’s start with the basics. When people hear that Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey are hosting World Cup matches. They may assume that cartels are everywhere in Mexico. What’s the reality on the ground?
[00:01:13] Steven: Well, I mean, the reality is that, of course, there is organized crime in Mexico, and there is organized crime in these cities. But the idea that this is a war zone and that they’re going to be in the middle of crossfire between different cartels is a little bit ridiculous. It’s not how organized crime works in Mexico generally, and certainly not during the World Cup.
Guadalajara is an important city, for example. It’s the historical heartland of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation (Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generación—CJNG). Monterrey probably is the most likely place where something like that might happen, because you’ve got a bunch of different groups—the Northeast Cartel, the Gulf Cartel, and the Jalisco Cartel—all in and around the area. And then you have Mexico City, which has a really complex criminal landscape. Groups like La Unión Tepito, Fuerza, Anti Unión, and others. The reality is again, these groups are not fighting over tourists. They’re focused on local criminal markets, and certainly they’re selling drugs and they’re extorting, there’s cargo theft and fuel theft, but this is all localized and they’re not, they’re not focused on tourists. And, if they were, it would get them in trouble and get their businesses in trouble. So they’re not interested in going after anybody. They’re probably going to keep a lower profile than they normally would otherwise because of the huge security presence.
SEE ALSO: Northeast Cartel Profile
[00:03:05] Deborah: So if the idea that tourists are going to get caught up in cartel violence is a misconception, what actually is the biggest risk for tourists in these cities, would you say?
[00:03:20] Steven: I mean, look, organized crime affects mostly Mexicans. Let’s just start there. Particularly those that are living in marginalized communities, or in corridors where there is a huge amount of trafficking and criminal activity. But for the people who are going to see the World Cup, they’re facing the things you would typically face if you go to any big event, I mean, petty theft scams, robbery, overcharging, you know, all of that sort of thing. You know that doesn’t mean that the groups, the big groups, are going to disappear from the equation. They’re operating behind the scenes, and that this may impact visitors, but more kind of indirectly. The average tourist is far more likely to lose their wallet than become a target of a big international criminal cartel.
[00:04:33] Deborah: I think cartels aren’t targeting tourists directly, but they are benefiting from the World Cup, just like they benefit from most major events. And we know that if the city’s getting rich, the cartel is getting rich, right?
[00:04:51] Steven: I mean, it’s a more target-rich environment for the things that they’re doing. Extortion. They control, uh, counterfeit merchandise. They would exert some control over informal vendors. Obviously, if there is a booming nightlife scene, they’re benefiting from selling drugs. I mean, you get increased tourism, an increased number of people, and increased opportunity for sure. But again, the chances of somebody’s going to be in the crossfire of a criminal spat are little to none, I would say.
[00:05:36] Deborah: Yeah, I would wager that the ways that tourism might open up overlap with the cartels would be, you know, tourists going looking for drugs and sex workers and that kind of thing, all of which are controlled by organized crime. But in terms of soccer’s particular connection to organized crime in Latin America, what do you think that our audience should really understand about that relationship?
SEE ALSO: Soccer and Organized Crime
[00:06:06] Steven: Well, the way that it works in most of these places is that the local criminal groups understand that they can do a lot with soccer teams in general. They can own them, which allows them in many cases to not just sort of launder money, but also to get a certain amount of business and elite cachet. I mean, one of the spaces where all different social classes mix is around soccer teams. So it’s a great way to ingratiate yourself with other elites. And certainly we’ve seen that across the board.
You know, they can also invest in soccer teams. Some of them we have seen, like to play on the soccer teams. Sebastián Marset indeed, was this Uruguayan money launderer and broker who was playing on a few different teams where he lived, so there’s that. But this is an important point of social meeting, allowing them to become enmeshed in elite circles. And that’s probably the thing that is most important over the long haul with many of these criminal groups; it allows them access to the traditional economic elites, and you see them intersecting in those spaces, which leads to alliances and business opportunities and a way to sort of legitimize their criminal operations over a period of time. That’s the thing that happens most often.
[00:07:54] Deborah: That’s right. As well as the fact that if you mention organized crime and football, um, I’m going to call it football in the same sentence. We think of the murder of Colombian defender Andrés Escobar after the 1994 tournament. Do you think that legacy still shapes how people think about security in football?
SEE ALSO: Sebastián Marset Profile
[00:08:19] Steven: I think it definitely does. I mean, there was a Netflix show and documentary and God knows what else about that. And that’s what people think about very often when they think about these interactions. And that’s true. I mean, there are still teams that are basically bankrolled by criminal operations, just like it was in Colombia.
And these interests, you know, they are important. I mean, these financial interests are backing up some of these teams, and they can. We haven’t seen anything like we saw then. I think it’s probably much more subtle. I would be surprised if we’re getting another Andres Escobar-type situation just because the interactions are much more subtle.
It’s interesting for me anyway; I think about soccer and organized crime. And when we’re talking about Mexico, when the biggest case in the last few years about soccer and organized crime came out of the United States, out of the Eastern District of the United States Justice Department. And that was the corruption case against the world governing body of soccer, FIFA, which basically was an organized crime case. It was the means by which these top officials from all of these, from FIFA and then these, sub-bodies that FIFA creates in order to manage all of these different tournaments around the world. And the marketing and television rights around those were bought and sold at the highest levels for millions and millions of dollars. I mean, the case, which was a 2015 case, alleged that over $150 million was basically pocketed. And that’s what they could substantiate. I mean, that’s an insane amount of money. And these guys were the highest-level officials. And these guys are the ones who, in some cases, people would argue, are still running these operations.
Certainly, if you ask the common fan these days, they will tell you that the prices for getting into these games are extortionist. So there’s that as well, which isn’t illegal. But all this other history illustrates just how entrenched this sort of criminal system had become. And many would argue it is still there.
[00:11:13] Deborah: So to wrap up, Steve, maybe the biggest misconception is that organized crime and the World Cup are only about violence.
[00:11:23] Steven: I mean, this is the thing. I think there’s a far, far lower chance that you’re going to run into violence than you are going to be extorted by FIFA to try and get into an actual game. I mean, that’s the reality. You’ve already been a victim of organized crime. When you bought a ticket to go to a game. I mean, that’s that is the conclusion I would come to.
[00:11:50] Deborah: Yeah, I can’t disagree. Affordable tickets to any of the games here have been elusive.
[00:11:58] Steven: Absolutely. I mean, in the US, it’s worse. So this is where we are. And unfortunately that’s the system. Everyone says it’s funny that these prices for these entries, for these tickets, you know, they only go up there. No one’s seen these prices go down. Supposedly, dynamic pricing goes both ways. We’ll see when we get to the game time and there’s tickets to be had. We’ll see if those prices go down.
[00:12:31] Deborah: We will. And in the meantime, it’s all eyes on the cartel, I guess. Steve, thanks for joining us. And we’ll be back next week with another InSight Take.