How Drug Cartels Operate Like Silicon Valley Startups Rory Smith - Motherboard
go to original September 18, 2016

Political analyst Laura Carlsen joins “Americas Now” anchor Elaine Reyes from Mexico City to discuss the impact of illegal enterprises on government and society in Latin America. (CCTV America)

Tunnels, catapults, drones, and manned semi-submersibles.

Breast implants, fake carrots, and puppies.

These are just a few examples of smuggling tactics used by Mexican and Central American organized crime groups to move illegal drugs and people across borders and past law enforcement. But they also exemplify the kinds of innovative behavior and problem-solving prowess that in other, legal contexts, such as Silicon Valley, often result in groundbreaking businesses.

However, reductionist and neocolonial theories of Mexican cartels have for too long hamstrung efforts to properly understand these complex entities and capture the vast potential therein, according to Dr. Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez. We, in essence, have failed to study these organizations within the right framework.

Nieto-Gomez, a research professor at the Center for Homeland Defense and Security and at the National Security Affairs Department of the Naval Postgraduate School, has spent much of his time over the last few years reconceptualizing our notion of this mysterious world. He has found that far from anything resembling The Godfather, the behavior of organized crime in Mexico more closely resembles the entrepreneurs and startups of Silicon Valley.

I caught up with Nieto-Gomez to talk about criminal entrepreneurship, the potential for capturing these innovation skills, and how organized crime in Mexico really works.

Read the interview at Motherboard

Related: Tunnels, Drones, Jet Skis, and Planes: How the Cartels Beat a Border Wall (The Daily Beast)

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