Drug Traffickers as Social Bandits: Culture and Drug Trafficking in Northern Mexico and the Border Region

• NCJ Number: 190069
• Journal: Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 17 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2001 Pages: 259-277
• Author(s): Mark C. Edberg
• Date Published: August 2001
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article discusses ethnographic/qualitative research regarding the ways in which drug trafficking and drug traffickers are portrayed and interpreted in northern Mexico and the border region through a recently popularized form of the traditional narrative music genre called the "corrido."

Abstract

The research links the drug trafficker persona to historical issues/values associated with the Sierra and border areas, including the long-standing patterns of smuggling, a tradition of independence, and conflicting relationships with both Mexican and U.S. authorities. The portrayal of drug traffickers as social bandits or heroes varies by social group and between rural and urban areas. Although the picture is mixed, narco-traffickers as portrayed in the narco-corridos are clearly situated within a value-laden, traditional narrative form that features a cultural persona who symbolizes resistance of some sort. In most narco-corridos, drugs and drug trafficking are not the primary focus; rather, it is the conflict with authorities and other themes of opposition that are primary. Regardless of how they may be exploited in some narco-corridos, narco-traffickers have become larger-than-life characters, cultural personas that are brothers (or sisters) to the Pancho Villas and many other characters who flow in and out of Mexican culture, which include legendary/mythical characters such a La Malinche and La Llorona. As such, the narco-traffickers persona exists outside of and beyond the actual life of any given narco-trafficker. This "celebretization" of drug traffickers highlights the ambivalent relationship between drug trafficking, historical conflicts between the United States and Mexico, and socioeconomic and cultural factors. This article also makes cross-cultural comparisons regarding drug trafficker portrayals in the United States. 5 notes and 30 references