Are Mexican Drug Cartels Adopting Terrorist Strategies? US Officials Are Concerned Elena Toledo - PanAm Post
go to original August 7, 2017

The scene of shoot-out in which 8 alleged drug traffickers were shot dead by Mexican Navy officers in Tlláhuac, Mexico City, last month (AFP)

With car bombs and grenades, criminal groups across Mexico have begun using terrorist weapons and techniques, a new US report claims — and politicians are concerned.

The US Congressional Research Service released a new study late last month titled, “Mexico: Organized Crime and Drug Trafficking Organizations,” which shows that large drug organizations have expanded beyond just crimes of extortion, kidnapping and robbery.

June S. Beittel, an analyst of Latin American Affairs, said that for more than 10 years, US congressmen have held hearings to discuss what assistance the government can provide to Mexico, especially following an attack on the US embassy in Mexico, but now they think the fight has escalated.

“Congress has expressed concern about violence and seeks to provide oversight in US cooperation with Mexican security,” a statement in April said.

The new study reported that car bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and grenade launchers “continues to raise concerns that some Mexican drug traffickers may be adopting insurgent or terrorist techniques.”

According to the “National Assessment of the Threat of Drugs” that was developed in November 2016 by the US Department of Justice, the potential harm caused by Mexican drug trafficking could affect transportation routes, distribution cells delivering drugs and the growth of the trade in general — especially for heroin.

Read the rest at PanAm Post | Español

Related: Mexico City Feels the Heat of Rising Drug Crime (The Financial Times)

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