NCJ Number
202193
Date Published
February 2003
Length
53 pages
Annotation
This study explored the scope of organized crime and terrorist activity in the Republic of Mexico during the period 1999 to 2002, including the extent of cooperation and possible overlap between criminal and terrorist activity in that country; the focus is on those groups that direct their criminal activities at the United States.
Abstract
This study relied extensively on Spanish-language print media sources that have covered criminal and terrorist organizations and their activities in Mexico. The groups whose activities largely impact U.S. citizens and interests are Mexican narcotics trafficking and human smuggling networks, as well as a range of smaller organizations that specialize in trans-border crime. The presence in Mexico of transnational criminal organizations, such as Russian and Asian organized crime, was also addressed. An assessment of the extent of terrorist activity in Mexico focused on several of the country's domestic guerrilla groups as well as foreign terrorist organizations believed to be present in Mexico. The study found that Mexico's three major drug cartels are being superseded by some six smaller, corporate-style, trafficking networks. This "new generation" of Mexican drug traffickers is less prone to violence and more likely to use sophisticated technologies and cooperative strategies. They use counterintelligence, the expansion and diversification of legitimate enterprises, and the concealment of transnational partnerships in order to avoid detection and interference from U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies. The lucrative alien smuggling enterprise is second only to Mexico's illicit drug trade in terms of revenues from criminal activities. Both the alien and drug smuggling enterprises have been able to expand their criminal activities in the United States by capitalizing on the dramatic growth in trans-border commerce under NAFTA, which has produced an explosive increase in human and merchandise traffic between Mexico and the United States. A variety of Russian criminal organizations that operate out of dozens of small cells are engaged in a wide range of criminal activities in Mexico. Russian criminal organizations based in southern California have entered into drug trafficking partnerships with Mexican drug cartels. As suppliers of primary materials for narcotics to Mexican drug traffickers, Asian criminal organizations are also active in Mexico. Regarding terrorist groups, high-ranking Mexican officials have indicated that prior to and following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, one or more Islamic extremist organizations sought to establish a presence in Mexico. Domestic insurgent groups have a limited impact in Mexico; however, some have sought to increase their financing by cooperating in the smuggling activities of drug-trafficking criminal groups. A 32-item bibliography