On the Radar: Do Crackdowns Work?

This week in On the Radar, a CJNG co-founder pleads guilty, Ecuador turns to Europe for help fighting crime, and US strikes hit trafficking routes — but the cocaine trade keeps moving.

Transcript

Welcome back to On the Radar. These are the three key questions this week:

Does the fall of legacy criminal leaders  actually weaken crime groups — or make them more adaptable?

Can international partnerships like Ecuador’s deal with Europol keep pace with transnational crime?

And if military force isn’t disrupting cocaine flows, what will?

CJNG Co-founder Pleads Guilty

Erick Valencia Salazar, co-founder of the Jalisco Cartel New Generation, has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in the United States.

Before helping build the CJNG alongside the recently deceased Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes — better known as “El Mencho” — Valencia was a key figure in the Milenio Cartel that came before it. 

His guilty plea closes a chapter, but raises the bigger, more perennial question of how much taking out founding figures really weakens groups like the CJNG.

Ecuador Works With Europe to Fight Crime

Ecuador is looking outward in its fight against organized crime, and signed a cooperation agreement earlier this month with the European Union and Europol. According to Ecuador’s Foreign Ministry, it’s the first agreement of its kind between the EU and a Latin American country.

But will greater intelligence-sharing and coordination with Europe translate into real gains on the ground?

Read our reporting on this new phase in Ecuador’s drug war on the web page.

Cocaine Flows Continue Despite US Strikes

And finally, a new InSight Crime investigation takes aim at the US missile strikes targeting drug trafficking routes in the Caribbean and Pacific seas. The conclusion is stark: while some routes were disrupted, the overall flow of cocaine has barely been affected.

Traffickers adapted. Routes shifted. Business continued.

Would the US be better off focusing more on regional collaboration and less on militarized attacks on organized crime?

Probably.

You can read that investigation on our homepage this week, as well as profiles of all of the region’s top trafficking groups and key leaders. That’s it for now! We’ll be back next week with more.