The Rise of the Sicario

The Rise of the Sicario

Author: Michael S. Vigil

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2021-06-21

Total Pages: 294

ISBN-13: 1663224625

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The plush, green colored, rolling hills surrounding Santa Clara del Cobre provided a mystical backdrop to the small town located in the western state of Michoacán, Mexico. The state, with a stretch of coastline along the sky-blue waters of the Pacific Ocean, derived its name from the ancient Nahuatl language used by the Aztecs, which means “place of the fisherman.” Rich copper mines have provided most of the town’s sustenance for several centuries and even now more than eighty percent of its inhabitants make their living as coppersmiths. As one strolls through the village, the incessant hammering of the orange-colored metal is deafening. The town grudgingly, through time, has clung to its colonial look. Most of the houses and buildings are painted a vibrant white and roofed in ornate red tiles.


El Sicario

El Sicario

Author: Sicario

Publisher: Random House

Published: 2011

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 0434021458

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true crime.


The Rise of the Narcostate

The Rise of the Narcostate

Author: John P. Sullivan

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation

Published: 2018-08-30

Total Pages: 600

ISBN-13: 1984543938

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This book is our sixth Small Wars Journal—El Centro anthology, covering writings published between 2016 and 2017. The theme of this anthology pertains to the rise of the narcostate (mafia states) as a result of the collusion between criminal organizations and political elites—essentially authoritarian regime members, corrupted plutocrats, and other powerful societal elements. The cover image of the mass demonstration concerning the disappearance of the forty-three Ayotzinapa Teachers’ College students held at Mexico City’s Zócalo Plaza in November 2014 provides an archetype of this anthology’s theme. This anthology includes the following special essays—Preface: “New Wars” and State Transformation by Robert Muggah, Igarapé Institute; Foreword: Crime and State-Making by Vanda Felbab-Brown, The Brookings Institution; Postscript: Crime, Drugs, Terror, and Money: Time for Hybrids by Alain Bauer, CNAM Paris; and Afterword: The Rise of the Oligarchs by Col. Robert Killebrew, US Army (Ret.). Dave Dilegge (SWJ, Editor-in-Chief)


Listening to Sicarios

Listening to Sicarios

Author: Arturo Chacón Castañón

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-02-28

Total Pages: 129

ISBN-13: 3030941183

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Listening to Sicarios presents new insights into the lives of paid assassins of Mexico’s drug trafficking syndicates from the perspectives of the assassins themselves. Based on an extraordinary series of ethnographic interviews carried out in the wake of the record levels of narcoviolence experienced in Ciudad Juárez between 2008 and 2012, this study analyzes the ways in which these young men interpret their actions across four key thematic axes: border infrastructures, youth and responsibility, masculinity and sentiment, and ethics: good vs. evil. It argues that sicarios follow a career path within a criminal corporate infrastructure that is especially robust in Mexican border cities. It also explores how sicarios understand youthful innocence in relation to adult accountability in the realm of violence that is frequently meted out by young men on other young men. It then analyzes sicarios’ expressions of feelings of power that may boost their sense of virility, as well as feelings of fear and regret that imply weakness. Finally, it examines how sicarios defend their personal integrity in the face of a public discourse that views their acts as savage.


Gangland

Gangland

Author: Jerry Langton

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2011-12-02

Total Pages: 271

ISBN-13: 1118014278

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A frightening look at Mexico's new power elite—the Mexican drug cartels The members of Mexico's drug cartels are among the criminal underworld's most ambitious and ruthless entrepreneurs. Supplanting the once dominant Colombian cartels, the Mexican drug cartels are now the major distributor of heroin and cocaine to the U.S. and Canada. Not only have their drugs crossed north of the border, so have the cartels (in 2009, 230 active Mexican drug cartels have been reported in U.S. cities). In Gangland, bestselling author Jerry Langton details their frightening stranglehold on the economy and daily life of Mexico today—and what it portends for the future of Mexico and its neighbours. Offering a firsthand look from members of law enforcement, politicians, journalists, and people involved in the drug trade in Mexico and Canada, Gangland sheds a harsh light on the multibillion dollar industry that is the drug trade, the territorial wars, and the on-the-street reality for the United States, with the importation of narco-terrorists. With the unstinting realism and keen analysis that have made him an internationally respected journalist, Langton offers the bleak prospects of what a collapsed government in Mexico might lead to—a new Mexican warlord state not unlike Somalia. Details the emergence of the Mexican drug cartels—the transformation of middlemen who ferried drugs from Bolivia and Colombia to the U.S. and Canada into self-styled entrepreneurs Describes how the growth of the cartels led to violent territorial wars—with Felipe Calderon declaring war on the cartels in 2006 Offers a frightening look at how much the incursion of the drug cartels has affected American life and business—Wachovia and Bank of America have been found guilty of laundering cartel profits An unflinching examination of the world's most lucrative—and deadliest—drug cartel, Gangland lets readers explore, with brutal clarity, the newest front on America's latest war.


El Narco

El Narco

Author: Ioan Grillo

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2012-01-16

Total Pages: 333

ISBN-13: 1408824337

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‘War’ is no exaggeration in discussing the bloodshed that has terrorized Mexico in the past decades. As rival cartels battle for control of a billion-dollar drug trade, the body count - 23,000 dead in five years - and sheer horror beggar the imagination of journalistic witnesses. Cartel gunmen have attacked schools and rehabilitation centers, and murdered the entire families of those who defy them. Reformers and law enforcement officials have been gunned down within hours of taking office. Headless corpses are dumped on streets to intimidate rivals, and severed heads are rolled onto dancefloors as messages to would-be opponents. And the war is creeping northward, towards the United States. El Narco is the story of the ultraviolent criminal organizations that have turned huge areas of Mexico into a combat zone. It is a piercing portrait of a drug trade that turns ordinary men into mass murderers, as well as a diagnosis of what drives the cartels and what gives them such power. Veteran Mexico correspondent Ioan Grillo traces the gangs from their origins as smugglers to their present status as criminal empires. The narco cartels are a threat to the Mexican government - and their violence has now reached as far as North Carolina. El Narco is required reading for anyone concerned about one of the most important news stories of the decade.


Drug Cartels Do Not Exist

Drug Cartels Do Not Exist

Author: Oswaldo Zavala

Publisher: Vanderbilt University Press

Published: 2022-05-15

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 082650468X

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Through political and cultural analysis of representations of the so-called war on drugs, Oswaldo Zavala makes the case that the very terms we use to describe drug traffickers are a constructed subterfuge for the real narcos: politicians, corporations, and the military. Though Donald Trump's incendiary comments and monstrous policies on the border revealed the character of a deeply depraved leader, state violence on both sides of the border is nothing new. Immigration has endured as a prevailing news topic, but it is a fixture of modern society in the neoliberal era; the future will be one of exile brought on by state violence and the plundering of our natural resources to sate capitalist greed. Yet the realities of violence in Mexico and along the border are obscured by the books, films, and TV series we consume. In truth, works like Sicario, The Queen of the South, and Narcos hide Mexico's political realities. Alongside these examples, Zavala discusses Charles Bowden, 2666 by Roberto Bolaño, and other important Latin American writers as examples of those who do capture the realities of the drug war. Translated into English by William Savinar, Drug Cartels Do Not Exist will be useful for journalists, political scientists, philosophers, and writers of any kind who wish to break down the constructed barriers—physical and mental—created by those in power around the reality of the Mexican drug trade.


The Land of Enchantment Cartel

The Land of Enchantment Cartel

Author: Michael S. Vigil

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2019-12-27

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1532090544

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The Land of Enchantment Cartel takes the reader through the murky, dangerous world of transnational organized crime and terrorist networks, which are responsible for spreading violence and death throughout the world. The protagonist leads a small group of law enforcement professionals that chip away at criminal groups in the U.S., Peru, Mexico, and Paraguay until a final and violent show down takes place between the forces of good and evil.. Although, it is fictional, it is inspired by the author’s experiences in the DEA.


Claw of the Dragon

Claw of the Dragon

Author: Michael S. Vigil

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2022-08-09

Total Pages: 346

ISBN-13: 1663241872

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Mike Vigil rose from humble beginnings in the Northern New Mexico village of Española to lead America’s effort against treacherous international drug traffickers and cartel bosses. He is a legend in the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and far beyond. From Mexico to Honduras, the Caribbean to Afghanistan, Vigil’s name is celebrated in far-flung regions of the world for his ability to bring disparate law enforcement and military entities together to take down some of the most dangerous criminals on the planet. In a career spanning more than three decades, Vigil faced down death many times and was known for being “first through the door” on operations that led to thousands of arrests and seizures of tons of dangerous drugs and millions of narco dollars. After his retirement from the DEA, Vigil embarked on a new career as an author and authority on the ever-evolving world of the increasingly violent drug cartels. His fast-paced novels have the clarion ring of authenticity, and for good reason: He’s been there and done that. From foot soldier to field general, and now a successful author and top authority on the continuing campaign against drug trafficking in America and around the world, Mike Vigil’s life is a testament to the good that can be accomplished against formidable odds by one brave man. Viva Mike Vigil. John L. Smith Author of Saints, Sinners, and Sovereign Citizens: The Endless War over the West’s Public Lands


Drug Capo

Drug Capo

Author: Michael S. Vigil

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2023-09-18

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 1663256039

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The book is about transnational organized crime that import illegal drugs into the U.S. creating drug addiction and overdose deaths. It dissects the Mexican cartels which have grown in size and power. Some of them now operate in six of the seven continents and now pose a threat to the U.S. and other countries throughout the globe. It also discusses the role of corrupt politicians in protecting the interests of the cartels despite the violence they generate.