Drug Violence

Summary and conclusions of the  rewritten, edited an updated version of Dr Voeten’s PhD thesis. Voeten has been focussing on the Mexican Drug Violence since 2009, as a photographer, journalist and anthropologist. It is currently the most violent conflict in a modern, industrialized country, taking nearly 250.000 casualties in 15 years time. In his book, Voeten first analyzes the nature and dynamics of the drug violence. He argues how it is a new type of conflict: Hybrid warfare, multidimensional, elusive and unpredictable, fought at different levels, with different intensities with multiple goals. The war ISIS has declared against the West is another example of hybrid warfare.
Voeten proceeds to analyse how a neoliberal system in overdrive has created a class of superfluous, expendable people who become the foot soldiers for organized crime. Drug cartels function as predatory, hyper-capitalist corporations that thrive in a globalized economy and use, just as legitimate corporations, elaborate branding and marketing strategies.
Voeten also looks at the anthropological, individual level and explains how people can become ruthless killers and actually enjoy killing. He talks to Mexican assassins for hire (sicarios) and compares them with Jihadists, West-African child soldiers and crack dealers from New York. He explores the sense of ‘senseless’ violence and researches how humans are able to commit ‘inhumane’ acts that are in fact very human.

Introduction to completely rewritten, edited an updated version of Dr Voeten’s PhD thesis. Voeten has been focussing on the Mexican Drug Violence since 2009, as a photographer, journalist and anthropologist. It is currently the most violent conflict in a modern, industrialized country, taking nearly 250.000 casualties in 15 years time. In his book, Voeten first analyzes the nature and dynamics of the drug violence. He argues how it is a new type of conflict: Hybrid warfare, multidimensional, elusive and unpredictable, fought at different levels, with different intensities with multiple goals. The war ISIS has declared against the West is another example of hybrid warfare.
Voeten proceeds to analyse how a neoliberal system in overdrive has created a class of superfluous, expendable people who become the foot soldiers for organized crime. Drug cartels function as predatory, hyper-capitalist corporations that thrive in a globalized economy and use, just as legitimate corporations, elaborate branding and markerting strategies.
Voeten also looks at the anthropological, individual level and explains how people can become ruthless killers and actually enjoy killing. He talks to Mexican assassins for hire (sicarios) and compares them with Jihadists, West-African child soldiers and crack dealers from New York. He explores the sense of ‘senseless’ violence and researches how humans are able to commit ‘inhumane’ acts that are in fact very human.

This is the second edition of Organized Crime and Violence in Mexico. Like last year's report, this study builds on 10 years of reports published by Justice in Mexico under the title Drug Violence in Mexico. The Drug Violence in Mexico series examined patterns of crime and violence attributable to organized crimes, and particularly drug trafficking organizations, as well as other related issues, such as judicial sector reform and human rights in Mexico. At the 10 year mark, in 2019, this series of reports was retitled "Organized Crime and Violence in Mexico" to reflect the proliferation and diversification of organized crime groups over the last decade and the corresponding wave of violence. As in previous years, this report compiles the most recent data and analysis of crime, violence, and rule of law in Mexico to help inform government officials, policy analysts, and the general public.

This review highlights contributions the volume makes to the study of narco violence and post-conflict contexts in Latin America, while also commenting upon the trends it makes visible in the field. Specific aspects addressed include: the continued influence of two theoretical approaches to literary and cinematic depictions of violence: Žižek's distinction between subjective and objective violence, and the idea of the neo-liberal "memory market" as formulated by Ksenija Bilbija and Leigh A. Payne; the the fact that this volume considers drug violence and political violence within a single frame (that is, not separating the two, but treating them as distinct facets of a globalization); and the inclusion of creative writers among the academic papers as a vital reminder that writers have been and continue to be at the forefront of processing, responding to, and understanding violence in their individual countries.

Since 2008 a Mexican based, narco-terrorist organization known as the Los Zetas rapidly expanded influence and operations into over 276 cities within the United States; like a hurricane gathering strength prior to land-fall, the effect of the Los Zetas operations can be felt across 42 states. “This disparate band of criminals known as Los Zetas is no longer just a concern in Mexico. It has expanded its deadly operations across the southwestern border, establishing footholds and alliances in states from New York to California” (Seper 2011). Numerous Congressional research reports indicate that the Los Zetas have established routine contact with the Lebanese based Hezbollah terrorist group, numerous United States (U.S.) based criminal gangs including the Mara Salvatruch (aka MS-13) gang that actively targets U.S. law enforcement agents, and possibly members of the international terrorist organizations associated with Al Qaeda. This paper attempts to define how the Los Zetas could facilitate a terrorist attack against a McAllen, Texas Law Enforcement Agency in order to strengthen their influence over other U.S. law enforcement agents.