abstract: Mexican drug cartels have been a difficult group to get official data on because of the clandestine nature of their operations and the inherent dangers associated with any type of research on these groups. Due to the close relationship that the United States and Mexico share, the United States being a heavy demander of illicit drugs and Mexico being the supplier or the transshipment point, research that sheds light on cartels and their effects is necessary in order to solve this problem. A growing concern is that cartels have been seeking to improve their international infrastructure. This could potentially be done by partnering with gangs located in the United States to help with the distribution of drugs. The author uses data from the 2009 and 2010 Arizona Gang Threat Assessment and three sets of analyses (dummy variable regression, change score, multinomial logistic) to shed light on the possible partnership between cartels and U.S. based gangs. Primarily using the varying level of intervention strategies practiced by police departments throughout the state of Arizona, this study is exploratory in nature, but attempts to find the effectiveness of intervention strategies on "cartel affiliated" gangs, as identified by federal authorities, and how police departments respond towards these same groups. With the current data, there was no significant evidence that suggests that intervention strategies were less effective on "cartel affiliated" gangs or that police departments were responsive towards these “affiliated” gangs. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Criminology and Criminal Justice 2015

abstract: The presence of drug cartels within Mexico impacts U.S. national security, foreign policy, U.S. crime rates, and public health policy. Due to the direct and indirect effects that the cartels have on the United States, this paper examines the Mérida Initiative, the current U.S. anti-cartel policy, and makes several recommendations for future policy directions. Using official documents as well as current academic research, this paper examines the outcomes of past comparable policies that the United States has implemented in Colombia and Afghanistan to address the issue of drug trafficking. The paper then builds on the present successes of the Mérida Initiative by recommending several policies in the areas of international cooperation, agricultural development, Mexican targeting and enforcement, and U.S. law enforcement. This paper recommends that information sharing between countries should be increased to reduce the likelihood that pressure place on cartels will cause displacement; crop eradication cease and alternative crop development be implemented to reduce illicit crop growth; the joint Mexican-U.S. enforcement focus should move from high-value targets to more highly connected members; the United States should increase vetting for gun purchases to help keep guns out of the hands of cartel members; and domestic drug policies should shift toward treatment and demand-focused policies. By implementing the recommended policies, this paper suggests that the influence of cartels within Mexico as well as the United States may be reduced. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Criminology and Criminal Justice 2014

Hybrid governance in Latin America A case study of the response of Mexican criminal syndicates to the COVID-19 pandemic Wordcount: 20282 International Master in Security Intelligence and Strategic Studies 2409572N 29/07/2021 Abstract In the academia, long dominated by a Western state-centric approach, the idea of the coexistence of different orders of social domination emerged in the nineties. It set the premises for the academic literature on hybrid governance. This research area is very recent and still developing. Hence, the fields of application of this concept in the academic literature are diverse but still too limited. Therefore, this dissertation arises from the consideration that it would be interesting to further investigate the applicability of this under-exploited notion. In particular, it looks at criminal organizations in Latin America through the case study of Mexican drug cartels amid the pandemic. This case presents the key characteristics of hybridity, hence making it a relevant tool to analyze it. The finding of the possibility of the applicability of hybrid governance as an analytical lens to understand Mexican drug cartels during the pandemic suggests the possibility to expand the field of application of this concept. It leads to a broader reflection on hybrid governance schemes with...

For over a century the international community has widely accepted a policy of universal drug prohibition. However, an increasing number of countries have been willing to experiment with progressive drug policies as the shortcomings of strict prohibition become more clear. This thesis is a study of the structures of drug laws in four countries – the Netherlands, Portugal, the United States, and Mexico – and their economic, public health, and human rights outcomes. The policies range in restrictiveness from the decriminalization of all drugs in Portugal to complete criminalization in Mexico. This thesis focuses on cannabis and heroin, two drugs which differ markedly in their risk for addiction and acute harm. A wide range of sources in the drug policy literature was analyzed. Evidence suggests that progressive policies in Portugal and the Netherlands have not significantly increased drug use and have led to numerous favorable public health outcomes. States in America that have legalized marijuana face many legal and economic challenges, and they should be observed closely as their policies develop further. Strict supply-control enforcement in Mexico has, on the other hand, led to an extreme upsurge in violent crime. These results suggest that in the future policymakers should drastically reallocate resources from ineffective supply-side strategies and pursue proven policies centered on public health and the protection of human rights.

This thesis concerns with the issue of war on drugs in Mexico. The paper analyses development of drug trafficking, reasons of its origin and the role of the United States. Also it observes drug policies of both states and their common programmes and operations. One of them is the Mérida Initiative, programme of financial assistance for Mexico to combat the drug trafficking. The aim of this thesis is also to present actual mexican drug production and drug cartels. The final part pays attention to few last years when the mexican war on drugs escalated and offers possible solutions of the situation.

This study aims to develop the understanding of how power over civil society emerges, in relation to social capital and power vacuums, based on a case study of cartel activity. The study focuses on two states, Aguascalientes and Chihuahua, in Mexico. A general historical analysis of the development of Mexican politics introduces the paper, after which an extensive examination of the development of the two states and the cartel activity within is explained. To corroborate this examination, a statistical analysis of the states is performed. The study shows that cartels establish their power in areas with low levels of social capital, and where a power vacuum resides. Furthermore, the results show how power vacuums are established in times of organizational change.

Over the last four decades organized crime groups, particularly, drug trafficking organizations or drug cartels, have managed to be under the spotlight of the security agendas of American countries such as Colombia and the United States. During the last two decades, however, the global securitization of the drug trafficking issue, has led them to become a major security threat not only for the Americas, but also for Europe and more recently for West African countries. These organizations pose a threat not only to the security of the state, but to the very essence of it, by corrupting and damaging everything they come in contact with at the political, social, economical and even cultural level. This graduate thesis presents an analysis on Latin American drug trafficking organizations or drugs cartels, as they are commonly known, focusing on the cases of Colombian and Mexican drug cartels. By comparing these two case studies, I suggest that today's Mexican drug trafficking organizations have gained their momentum and incommensurable strength by following the footsteps of the big three Colombian drug cartels that existed between the 1980s and 1990s. The first chapter will expose the definitions and concepts surrounding the research of organized crime. In the second and third chapters, both the...