Since the 1990s, U.S. strategy in the war on drugs has included massive sting operations focused on the top leaders of cartels. The unintended consequences of these takedowns, argues some working in the sector, is that cartels fragment into smaller groups who then war with each other, perpetuating and even

El Chapo’s high profile case, as well as several other lower profile cases, are highlighting the impact and extent of corruption in Mexican politics and drug smuggling, risks that pose severe difficulties to both Mexican and U.S. drug enforcement efforts in the area. Some senior-level officials in the judicial, law

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has recently described a surge in drug trafficker’s use of immigrants at the border to distract U.S. officers to open up unprotected smuggling lanes. In one recent instance, a group of 247 immigrants from Central America arrived at the border and 50 of

The national problem of fuel theft was highlighted in Mexico over the weekend as at least 73 people died as the result of an explosion caused by illegal taps into a pipeline on Friday night. This kind of theft results in over $3 billion USD in losses and per year,

In an effort to reduce gasoline theft, State oil company Petroleos Mexicanos (Pamex) has changed their distribution methods, resulting in shortages and long lines at refueling stations across 6 states. Fuel theft in the country had risen from around $500,000 USD per year in the early 2000s to around $3

“Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador used his first news conference of 2019 to start recruitment for his new National Guard, which will become the country’s primary security force. Lopez Obrador says the government hopes to recruit about 50,000 civilians to add to the guard’s initial composition of military personnel

While cryptocurrencies are involved in only a small fraction of the estimated $2 trillion trillion in laundered money every year, its share is rising. Now, the DEA has stated that Mexican drug cartels are increasingly using money laundering and cryptocurrency channels based in Asia to move and “clean” their money.

With Australia’s ratification of the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade agreement, the agreement between 11 countries will go into effect at the end of December. Current signatories include Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Mexico, and Canada, while Brunei, Chile, Peru, Vietnam, and Malaysia were a part of the

“The murder of Saudi columnist Jamal Khashoggi in a year when more than half of all journalists killed were targeted deliberately reflects a hatred of the media in many areas of society, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said on Tuesday. At least 63 professional journalists around the world were killed doing

“President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador used his first full day in office Sunday to double down on promises to deploy Mexico’s military for public security to address a key concern: stemming rampant violence and rising murders. Speaking before rows of generals at a sun-drenched military installation in one of Mexico