Mexican Drug Research Articles

The Cartel Mystique: Race and the Social Construction of the Cannabis Grower

Racialization of the drug trade has been an ongoing feature of drug‐related moral panics for over a century. In the latter part of the twentieth century, public anxieties about ongoing economic changes made immigrants and Mexican drug cartels convenient scapegoats in the context of moral panics about cannabis and cannabis growers. In this research, I focus on the social construction of cannabis growers in the Emerald Triangle of Northern California, with a particular focus on the cartel grower construct. Through a content analysis of news media coverage, government and law enforcement reports, and field notes from personal communications with law enforcement officers and government officials, I identify racialized constructions of growers in the region. I also explore the relationships between local narratives and the broader cannabis discourse. In this “post‐prohibition” moment, this discourse impacts U.S. cannabis policy conversations and fuels anti‐immigrant rhetoric.

Cohabitation with criminals: civilian women’s everyday cooperation with Mexican drug cartels

ABSTRACT Armed conflicts between drug cartels and the Mexican government have caused collateral damage to local communities while prompting various responses from civilian women. Existing studies on women’s reactions to narco-violence have focused on either their active resistance against violence or their direct participation in cartels. In reality, however, most civilian women’s actions exist on a spectrum between these two extreme poles, which has received relatively little attention in the literature. This article examines how civilian women cooperate with cartels by analyzing qualitative data, including 37 semi-structured interviews with participants from Jalisco, Mexico. Using the concept of “everyday cooperation,” we divide civilian women’s actions to cohabit with cartels in the narco-environment into three categories: keeping silent, pursuing benefits, and idealizing narco-culture. Though civilian women’s actions are shaped by the normalization of violence embedded in their local communities, they strategize their behavior through social learning processes. This study conceptually and empirically contributes to the literature on civilian agency under narco-violence by scrutinizing the array of local civilian women’s responses to pervasive criminal violence, focusing on their daily cooperation with cartels in Mexico.

Firms and Labor in Times of Violence: Evidence from the Mexican Drug War

ABSTRACT This paper examines the impact of violence resulting from drug trafficking on manufacturing firms in an emerging economy. By utilizing comprehensive longitudinal data spanning all of Mexico from 2005 to 2010, and employing an instrumental variable strategy that leverages plausibly exogenous spatiotemporal variations in the homicide rate during the outbreak of drug violence, the analysis reveals a significant negative effect of violence on plant output, employment, product scope, and capacity utilization. The negative effect on employment is entirely driven by blue-collar employment and concentrated among low-wage, female-intensive firms. Further, consistent with a violent-environment-induced blue-collar labor-supply shock, the results show positive effects on blue-collar wages and negative effects on white-collar wages at the firm level. Output resilience to violence is also shown to be lower among labor-intensive, domestically selling and sourcing, less diversified firms. These findings show the rise of drug violence has a significant negative effect on development of domestic industrial capability in Mexico and shed light on the characteristics of the most affected firms and the channels through which they are affected.

Crisis, corruption and state-led development in the making of the Mexican drug trade

Abstract The state of Durango has long been a centre of Mexican heroin production and an important node in transnational drug trafficking networks. As early as 1944, it was the site of one of the biggest drug busts in Mexican history, when an opium poppy plantation the size of 325 football pitches, irrigated by a purpose-built aqueduct, was discovered in the state’s northern mountains. By the mid 1970s, a combination of kinship ties and concrete connected these poppy fields directly with the US drug market hub of Chicago, Illinois, along a route known as the ‘heroin highway’, which helped Mexico become the supplier of 90 per cent of US heroin. But how did a poor, underpopulated and overwhelmingly rural state become a major player in the billion-dollar US–Mexican drug trade? This article shows that in Durango, the rise of heroin production and trafficking were integral aspects of local processes of social, political and economic modernization. Stimulated by the Mexican and US governments’ promotion of infrastructural improvements and mass migration, and protected by representatives of Mexico’s post-revolutionary political system, the drug trade in turn fuelled further ‘licit’ economic development, making it part of the very foundation of Mexico as we know it today.

Escaping Precariousness: Criminal Occupational Mobility of Homicide Inmates During the Mexican Drug War

Escaping Precariousness: Criminal Occupational Mobility of Homicide Inmates During the Mexican Drug War

Transversal Threats and Collateral Conflicts

Security, a cornerstone of international relations, is intertwined with states' defense and survival. Barry Buzan's work expands security's scope from military to societal dimensions, highlighting its multifaceted nature. Buzan's Regional Security Complex paradigm elucidates interactions among states within and beyond geographical boundaries. Societal security emerges as pivotal, safeguarding a state's identity and integrity. Transnational threats, exemplified by South and Central America's challenges, underscore interconnected security risks. Venezuela's crisis, Colombian violence, and Mexican drug trade intricately impact regional stability and global dynamics. Assessing security through various lenses reveals nuanced perspectives, from realist state-centric views to liberal individualism and constructivist social dynamics. Understanding these complexities is essential for addressing contemporary security challenges effectively. This abstract synthesizes key concepts in security studies, offering insights into evolving security paradigms and their implications for international relations.

‘El narco está de moda’: Corporeality, Gender Violence and Narcoculture in Culiacán, Sinaloa

This article considers how the figure of the buchona can be seen as another form of victimization for women in north-western Mexico. It focuses on previous representations of gender violence by the photographer Mayra Martell in her photography series Ensayo de la Identidad (2005–2020) and her more recent project Buchonas (2017–2023), composed of six items, including the photography book Culichi Town (2018) and the playing/ collectors’ cards, Plebes (2019). This article argues that visible femininity associated with certain (often prosthetic) beauty standards can be considered a victim of a hyperviolent machista presence, in line with Sayak Valencia’s theorizations in Capitalismo Gore (2018), using the work of comedian Cid Vela’s alter ego, El Ezequiel, singer of ‘narcocorridos’ – ballads popular in Mexican drug culture – to demonstrate how, rather than use satire to critique systemic gender violence, Vela’s work revictimizes these women.

Desempeño cognitivo en usuarios y no usuarios de metanfetaminas en abstinencia temprana y prolongada

Introduction: methamphetamine use decreases general cognitive performance; however, evidence of this is heterogeneous and limited in the Mexican population. Objective: to determine the difference between the time period of methamphetamine abstinence and cognitive performance in Mexican drug users and non-users, and to identify the relationship between users in early and prolonged stages of abstinence. Method: comparative correlational research. It was composed of 34 male participants aged between 17 and 57 years old; 25 are patients with methamphetamine use disorder in an abstinence period and they are from a rehabilitation center (1 to 180 days: n = 17; 180 or more days n = 8) who were compared with healthy non-using controls (n = 9). A battery of neuropsychological tests was applied to measure cognitive performance (mental flexibility, inhibitory control and working memory). Data were analyzed with the STATISTICA 7 statistical program. Results: The findings suggest significant differences in cognitive performance between methamphetamine withdrawal users and non-users, particularly in cognitive inhibitory control and working memory. On the one hand, similar cognitive functioning was found among patients with different withdrawal times. Although, in comparison with the non-consuming group, cognitive performance was found to be worse for the early abstinence group, but not for the prolonged abstinence group. Consumption history was correlated with cognitive alterations in working memory and mental flexibility. Discussion and conclusions: methamphetamine use has implications on inhibitory control and working memory performance in early abstinence.

Export side effects of wars on organized crime: The case of Mexico

This paper finds that law enforcement interventions during the Mexican Drug War (MDW) hindered local export growth. We leverage exogenous variation in drug enforcement from the close election of mayors affiliated with the national ruling party during the MDW. Firms servicing the same markets but exogenously exposed to drug enforcement experienced lower export growth. The MDW decreased capital investments, eroding productivity gains in capital-intensive activities.

Beyond money, power, and masculinity: Toward an analytical perspective on recruitment to Mexican drug trafficking organizations

Mexican drug trafficking organizations have experienced rapid attrition resulting in a continual need for personnel since 2006. However, the process by which these criminal organizations absorb new members remains obscure. In this article, we report on the social context of recruitment and motivational pathways into Mexican drug trafficking organizations through in-depth interviews with current and former cartel members ( N = 79). We find that recruits are motivated by aspirations of financial success and notions of masculinity, but also influenced by attachment to social groups and jointly shared experiences that we term a collective trajectory. We argue that individual decisions to join criminal organizations are viewed in collective terms, or being connected with members of their immediate social group. We conclude with the applications of challenges of collective trajectory for sociological criminology.

Revisiting Gandhi’s Philosophy: A Quest for Global Peace

More than three dozen conflicts are presently ongoing throughout the world. Of these, six have been converted into major wars, viz.: Yemeni Civil War, Mexican Drug War, Afghanistan Conflict, Myanmar Conflict, Ethiopian Civil War and the Russia-Ukraine War. Innocent citizens of these countries, including women and children, are being brutally killed in these conflicts. War leads to disaster. And after the holocaust one tends to preserve what is left behind and creates, once again, what has been destroyed. Ultimately, the end sufferers of the war going countries are its guiltless citizens. Solution to the above-mentioned violent conflicts lies in the Gandhian philosophy based on its four major principles, viz.: satya (truth), ahimsa (non-violence), satyagraha and sarvodaya. There is little scope for greed, lie, hatred, and urge for power, violence and possessiveness in Gandhian philosophy. After all when shall man realize that he is not immortal. Man has to realize that the mentality for more than required material possessiveness is the root cause of poverty and starvation. Wealth earned throughout life cannot be carried after death. The aforesaid chaos and conflict, which the world faces today is because man is running blindly in quest for the attainment of material gains and for the acquisition of absolute power. This selfish quest for money and power attracts jealousy and hatred from all corners ultimately resulting into grievous conflicts. And, therefore, Gandhi propagated in favour of non-possessiveness and detachment from material things. The world has had enough of bloodshed for the establishment of a so called just order, i.e., based on freedom and democracy, especially after the II World War. It is high time these conflicting countries realize that peace is indivisible and so is freedom and both together co-exist and are indivisible too.

Is the Sinaloa Cartel a Mafia?

Abstract Aiming to reduce the conceptual ambiguity surrounding the topic of organized crime, this study assesses the extent to which the Sinaloa Cartel, the most prominent Mexican drug syndicate, has the characteristics of a mafia. The study uses Paoli’s 2020 mafia framework, which identifies seven typifying characteristics of mafias, such as the Sicilian Cosa Nostra or the Japanese Yakuza. It relies on a broad review of the literature, court transcripts and media sources. The Sinaloa Cartel fully meets none of the seven typifying traits of mafias. It comes closest on the last trait, popular legitimacy and power-sharing, but it is properly characterized as a large drug-selling enterprise. Lastly, the study draws (sombre) policy implications from the analysis.

Privatized espionage: NSO Group Technologies and its Pegasus spyware

AbstractAdvanced cyber technology like NSO Group Technologies' (NSO) controversial Pegasus spyware blurs distinctions between “good” and “bad.” This case follows the Israeli‐based international leader in cyber espionage and developer NSO and one of its co‐founders, Shalev Hulio from its creation in 2010 to the present. It includes NSO's acquisition by US‐based private equity fund Francisco Partners in 2014. NSO's re‐acquisition in 2019 by co‐founders Hulio and Omri Lavie with funding support from London‐based private equity fund Novalpina Capital. During this time, Pegasus had helped capture Mexican drug baron El Chapo, prevented terrorist attacks and broken up pedophilia, sex, and drug‐trafficking rings. But Pegasus also contributed to the murder of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi as well as other illegal incidents against dissidents, journalist, and governments. As the case suggests, controlling access to such powerful technology that involves accountability, responsibility, and enforceability within a firm and within nations appears illusive.

Summaries

Summaries

Nowhere to Hide? Global Policing and the Politics of Extradition

Abstract Global policing efforts go far beyond combatting terrorism. The United States has tracked down war criminals in the former Yugoslavia, prosecuted Mexican drug kingpins in U.S. courts, transferred a Congolese warlord to the International Criminal Court, and even invaded foreign countries to apprehend wanted suspects. Likewise, Chinese police and intelligence forces crisscross the globe engaging in surveillance, abductions, and forced repatriations. But global policing activities are hard to study because they tend to occur “in the shadows.” Extradition treaties—agreements that facilitate the formal surrender of wanted fugitives from one country to another—represent a unique part of the global policing architecture that is directly observable. An original dataset of every extradition treaty that the United States has signed since its independence shows that extradition cooperation is not an automatic response to the globalization of crime. Instead, it is an extension of geopolitical competition. Geopolitical concerns are crucial because many states try to weaponize extradition treaties to target their political opponents living abroad, not just common criminals. Future research should reconceptualize the role of individuals in international security because many governments believe that a single person—whether a dissident, a rebel, or a terrorist—can imperil their national security.

The War on Drugs Turns 50

A discussion of major developments since the war on drugs launched in 1971 including mass incarceration, the overdose crisis, and the Mexican drug war. Challenges are described and solutions considered.

Contemporary narcoterrorism in Latin America. A case of Colombia and Mexico

At the end of the Cold War, the term "narcoterrorism" was coined. This concept originally meant ties between drug dealers and terrorist organizations and the countries of the Soviet bloc. The definition of this phenomenon, developed later, is ambiguous and means both methods attributed to terrorists, applied by drug cartels and the financing of their activities by terrorist groups through drug trafficking. This article deals with the first of these meanings and discusses the situation in two Latin American countries. The Colombian Medellin cartel was the first to use typical terrorist measures. Criminals carried out bomb attacks on public buildings, planes and attacks on politicians. In doing so, they wanted to achieve the goal of preventing the extradition of cartel leaders. Mass drug production has been going on since the 1930s in Mexico, but at the turn of 21st century, local criminal groups monopolized drug trafficking routes to the US. In 2006, an attempt by the state to combat this practice resulted in a long-term "drug war", in which several hundred thousand people were killed. There has also been an unprecedented increase in crime in the world, to the point where about 100 people are killed at the hands of the cartels in Mexico on a daily basis. The international community has almost unanimously labeled the activities of the Mexican drug cartels as terrorism. Only the opinion expressed in Mexican literature differed in that respect. The cooperation of these cartels with terrorist organizations turned out to constitute another threat to international security. This kind of cooperation can bring mutual benefits to terrorist groups and the countries supporting them – especially in the case of money laundering. The long-term operation of cartels has created the phenomenon of "drug culture" in Latin American communities, glorifying the terrorist activities of cartels and the figures of their leaders.

The Avocado Wars: A Natural Progression for Mexican Drug Cartels

The Avocado Wars: A Natural Progression for Mexican Drug Cartels

Book Review: The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade by Benjamin T. Smith

Book Review: <i>The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade</i> by Benjamin T. Smith

The draftsman’s contract: Gianfranco Rosi’s El Sicario, Room 164

In Gianfranco Rosi’s El Sicario, Room 164 (2010), a former sicario (‘contract killer’) for a Mexican drug cartel narrates a twenty-year career of torture and murder. Veiled to preserve his anonymity, he delivers his 80-minute monologue within the confines of a motel room. Though the ‘talking head’ is a well-worn device associated with televisual documentary, Rosi’s film, shot on digital, might be said to be anchored in a cinematic documentary tradition by recourse to another medium: drawing. As the sicario talks, he sketches cartel activities ranging from drug transportation to brutal physical violence on the pages of a notepad. This article considers how Rosi’s filming of drawing in El Sicario reveals something significant of drawing in film, in documentary and in this director’s documentary films in particular. Informed by Jacques Derrida’s reflections on drawing and by the ethical thought of Emmanuel Levinas, I suggest that the drawing of El Sicario illuminates concerns fundamental to documentary film – of sight and its occlusion, of scepticism and faith, evidence and education.