The term “transnational gangs” has always been used to refer to the spread of Central American gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha into Washington DC, North Carolina and Maryland. Most of these transnational gangs were formed by refugees in the 1980s fleeing the war in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Honduras. The gangs were a form of protection. In January, the Congressional Research Service filed a report showing that these gangs were continuing to expand. Kamala Harris, the State Attorney General, feels like the term “transnational gangs” should also include the cooperation that is seen between the Mexican cartels and the California prison gangs.
Evidence has shown that the California gangs have formed close relations with the drug trafficking Mexican drug cartels. The law enforcement officers are concerned as the relations have moved to sophisticated levels as the gangs are exchanging tactical information, exchange intelligence and share ways to avoid detection when trafficking drugs across the borders. The high ranking gangs either operating inside the prison or outside are calling all the shots while the California local street gangs do all the work. In the past, the Mexican cartels could only sell the drugs that the U.S buyers could pay, but, now, the cartels are giving the buyers the drugs without them having to pay for them up front. This is a big change as they are not just selling them the drugs, but also helping them.
The cartels are increasing the amount of meth they sell to the gangs. They are falsifying vehicle tags on the border so as to bring them to the U.S with the help of border officials on their payroll. They have also turned to wiring their money into bank accounts instead of dealing with cash. The most worrying change is the fact that the gangs are driving on to the locations and using counter surveillance techniques to avoid detection, something they never used to do.
Motivations and Benefits of the Alliances
The relationship between the Mexican cartels and California gangs like the Nortenos is motivated and strong due to the Nortenos gang's reputation of being honest. The gang is known for their high quality product as they will return the drugs if their consumers complain about it. This reassures the cartel that their market is in good hands. The relationship between the Mexican cartels and the California gangs has helped the gangs learn new techniques that they are now adopting. The gangs are adopting the cartel methodology which makes it hard to detect them. The gangs are turning to each other for help when, due to these alliances, for example, they do not have ammunitions for their guns. They also help in transporting guns that have been used in crimes across the counties. This alliance has seen the production of methamphetamine increase in Mexico due to the U.S high demand.
An example Implementing Alliance between the SMEs and the MNEsAn example of how the alliance between the SMEs and the MNEs is implemented is when the high ranking Mexican drug trafficking cartels call all the shots while the small gangs in the California streets do all the work. The Mexican cartels are selling the U.S buyers drugs without having to pay for it up front as they used to before. The alliance is also being implemented by sharing of information between the two, exchanging intelligence and ways of avoiding detection from the law's enforcement officers. It has seen the Mexican cartels increase the amounts of meth to the U.S buyers.
The transportation methods are becoming more sophisticated, due to the alliances. The cartels together with the gangs are falsifying tags on vehicles so as to help them transport the vehicles from Mexico to the U.S. This is done through the help of border officers that are later paid by the cartels.
Issues Affecting the Strategic Alliances
The strategic alliance formed by the drug trafficking cartels and the gangs may seem advantageous, but it does not lack its cons. There are some trust issues especially when some gangs opt to cut the drugs with other products so as to increase their profits. The cartels, therefore, have to choose the gangs they operate with well so as to avoid this. The alliance is also faced with problems when it comes to managing and controlling violence. This is established when the Nortenos and some Nuestra Familia members were involved in the importation of more than 20 pounds of meth every week and later distributing it out the respective regions. This caused the homicide rated to double from the year 2007 to 2009.
Just like in any alliance, the alliance between the Mexican cartels and the gangs is faced with communication and control issues especially when it comes to the question “Who has the last say?” The communications issues may arise due to the cultural differences especially if the gangs do not understand the Mexican language and the Mexicans do not understand English. There may be frequent conflicts if there are no resolution procedures put in place.
