Feral Jundi

Friday, September 28, 2012

Law Enforcement: Over 1,286 US Cities Report Presence Of Mexican Cartels

Filed under: Law Enforcement,Mexico,Publications — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 10:48 AM

This is an excellent graphic giving a visual representation of where the cartels are, and a general idea of their activity. If you click on the image, you should be able to get a bigger picture of it and really dig into the data. All of this data was extracted from reports issued by the Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center. The 1,286 number is startling.  No telling how many more cities have reported since 2010? Here is a quote:

The numbers could rise in coming years. The Justice Department’s National Drug Intelligence Center estimates Mexican cartels control distribution of most of the methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana coming into the country, and they’re increasingly producing the drugs themselves.
In 2009 and 2010, the center reported, cartels operated in 1,286 U.S. cities, more than five times the number reported in 2008. The center named only 50 cities in 2006.
Target communities often have an existing Hispanic population and a nearby interstate for ferrying drugs and money to and fro, said author Charles Bowden, whose books on the Mexican drug war include “Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy’s New Killing Fields.”
“I’m not saying Mexicans come here to do crime, but Mexicans who move drugs choose to do it through areas where there are already Mexicans,” he said.

Also, if you are wondering what happened to the DoJ’s National Drug Intelligence Center, it was closed and folded into the DEA recently. But you can still read through their archives here. –Matt

 

Monday, August 20, 2012

Games: Army Of Two– The Devil’s Cartel

This is a great concept for a game. Take these two security contractors and veterans of the middle east, and put them up against the cartels down south. Here is a quick description about the game.

You’ll face off against the world’s most vicious drug cartel in Army of TWO The Devil’s Cartel. Take part in a private military operation against The Scythe, a wide-spread criminal operation that has brought murderous terror to the besieged nation of Mexico. Lead your own insurrection as you battle tenacious foot soldiers and ruthless drug lords in a story that’s ripped from today’s headlines. Do whatever it takes to end the corrupt cartel’s stranglehold over the country, and bring the head of The Scythe to swift and bloody justice. The Army of TWO may be vastly outnumbered by the villainous Devil’s Cartel, but they certainly will not be outgunned.

Man, it almost seems like the guys at EA are reading this blog. lol I have been talking about private industry, armed with letters of marque, operating within a well constructed offense industry, and used against the cartels for awhile now.

What is cool here is that this game further demonizes the cartels and allows the gaming public to participate in their destruction.  It also brings up the concept of using private industry to take care of a problem. Even if the reality of doing such a thing is remote, or that private industry would probably approach it in a less dramatic and violent fashion, it is the idea of such an action that is significant. Very cool and we will see how it sells. –Matt

Facebook page for game here.

Website for game here.

 

 

Friday, July 20, 2012

Technology: Google Declares War Against The Cartels!!

Filed under: Mexico,Technology — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 1:29 AM

Eduardo Guerrero, a Mexico City-based security consultant, wasn’t optimistic that technology alone can disrupt narcotraffickers.
“You should never underestimate the power of these guys,” Guerrero said. “They’re probably even aware of what’s going on here, and will figure out a way to use it to their advantage.”
Even Google’s Schmidt conceded that better use of information isn’t enough.
“I think at the end of the day, there really are bad people, and you have to go in and arrest them and kill them,” he said.

Check this out. It looks to me like Google is picking a fight with the cartels down south. lol Thanks to Borderland Beat for posting  this story and this will be interesting to watch. Especially if they can actually come up with a sound anonymous tip line service that is completely safe and easy to use.

Google’s ideas include creating a network so citizens can safely report cartel activity without fear of retribution. It wants to make sharing real-time intelligence easier among police in different regions. It can identify how individuals are connected to each other, to bank accounts and even to corrupt government officials. It can create community Web platforms for citizens to share information and name and shame criminals.

‘Name and shame criminals’ or to ‘safely report cartel activity without fear of retribution’ would be a pretty big technological hit on the cartels. Let’s just hope that Google has posted close protection agents around those individuals tasked with coming up with this stuff. lol Because to the cartels, the weakest point and the easiest way to counter this stuff to them, is to kidnap the guys who figured it out and force them to give up the secrets. Or bribe, steal, or whatever. There are no rules with these guys, and everything is fair game.

Either way, I wish Google luck and I look forward to seeing these tools in action. –Matt

 

Google searches for ways technology can harness Mexico’s narcotraffickers, global crime
July 19, 2012
Google, so far, has won the search engine wars. Now it wants to target international crime, including Mexico’s powerful drug cartels.
Eric Schmidt, Google Inc.’s executive chairman, has taken a keen interest in Mexico, where more than 47,500 people have been killed in drug-related violence since President Felipe Calderon launched an offensive against the cartels in 2006. Schmidt recently visited most of Mexico’s most violent cities, Ciudad Juarez, where civic leaders asked if he could help.

(more…)

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Crime: Santa Muerte Or The Saint Of Death, Has A Following Among Criminals

Filed under: Crime,Law Enforcement,Mexico — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 3:39 PM

This is a great report on the significance of Santa Muerte to criminals. She is definitely spiritual enemy number one! –Matt

 

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Industry Talk: Security Contracting On Both Sides Of The US-Mexican Border

Filed under: Industry Talk,Mexico — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 11:35 AM

Armed private security is a booming business in many parts of Latin America, and demand for personal protection services in Mexico is growing at least 20 percent a year, driven by foreign and local business executives looking to safeguard their families and employees, according to Robert Munks, a senior Americas analyst with London-based IHS-Jane’s, which tracks global security trends.

Here are two great articles that cover the current situation of security contracting both in Mexico, and on the US side of the border. The bottom line is that business is good for US executive protection providers in places like Texas, and business is good for Mexican security companies on their side of the border.

The first article talks about business on the US side and mentions a few companies that folks can check out if they are interested. The companies listed are Texas Professional Bodyguards LLC, BlackStone Group Security, Reynolds Protection and Sentry Security and Investigations LP. These are all Texas companies and it sounds like all of them have seen an increase in business.

The reason for the increase is pretty simple. Affluent Mexicans that come to the US fear getting attacked by sicarios hired by the cartels. Here is the quote that perked me up.

In Texas, crimes linked to cartels include 25 homicides since 2009 and 120 kidnappings and extortions reported since 2004 that have involved drugs and immigrants unlawfully in the country, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. At least one Austin homicide in the past five years has been cartel-related, police have said.

The second article is a Washington Post article and it describes the private security market on the other side of the border. They basically cover what is already known and that is Mexican security companies are doing well, but US companies are limited because of the firearms restrictions. Although there is a lot of money for training and support related stuff, the reality is that you just won’t see many armed US (or other) security contractors down there because of Mexico’s Article 27 firearms codes.

On the other hand, they do mention a few companies that are operating across the border. They are DynCorp International, Kroll, Spectre Group International LLC, SECFOR, and Robert Oatman.

Personally I think Mexico is foolish for not tapping into this wartime security contracting industry. If the laws were changed and there were provisions that allowed security contractors to be armed and operate in Mexico under some type of SOFA, then you would see this side of the industry getting more involved. I mean if you have entire towns in Mexico that have become vacant because of drug violence, then that might indicate that they do not have enough competent security folks to meet then need. Just saying….

Of course training and logistical support will be there and I expect to see more of that as time goes by. Just look how much money has already been spent according to this quote?

American security aid pays for some of those programs, while other contractors are paid by the Mexican government, whose spending on security jumped from $1.7 billion in 2005 to more than $12 billion in 2011, according to the think tank Mexico Evalua.
There are no precise figures on the number of U.S. security contractors working in Mexico, but the Pentagon and the State Department spent $635.8 million on counternarcotics contracts in Latin America in 2009, a 32 percent increase from 2005, according to an analysis prepared by the office of Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) in June.

That is a lot of cash being dedicated to the cause and the companies will certainly provide whatever services that are needed. –Matt

 

Private security for Mexican citizens a growing business in Austin, state
By Jazmine Ulloa
Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
Some private security companies in Austin and across Texas have begun tapping into a burgeoning demand: personal protection services for wealthy Mexican citizens visiting the United States.
The increase over the past two years correlates with a wave of Mexican citizens, typically well-off business owners and entrepreneurs, looking to relocate to Texas in the wake of the bloodshed seething south of the U.S.-Mexico border, and some security businesses have noted the rising need statewide, agents said.
“There is a growing niche for personal protection (among Mexican citizens), but it is a very low-key niche,” said Philip Klein , CEO of Klein Investigations and Consulting and founder of Texas Professional Bodyguards L L C, which has offices in Houston, Dallas and San Antonio. “There are very few of us who can provide these high-end services, and a lot of us don’t talk about it.”
An example of the security trend was revealed this month when the American-Statesman reported that several Austin police officers were paid cash by an affluent Mexican citizen to watch over his daughter while she attends college. Two officers have left the Austin Police Department since federal and local authorities started criminal and administrative investigations into the off-duty employment, police have said.
But an increasing number of Mexican clients are opting for private security companies, which must meet licensing, registration and insurance mandates, private security professionals said.

(more…)

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