1 Robert Muggah and John P. Sullivan, “The Coming Crime Wars”, Foreign Policy, 21 September 2018, available at: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/21/the-coming-crime-wars/ (all internet references were accessed in August 2022); Hal Brands, “Third-Generation Gangs and Criminal Insurgency in Latin America”, Small Wars Journal, 4 July 2009, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-and-criminal-insurgency-in-latin-america; Hal Brands, “Gangs and the New Insurgency in Latin America”, World Politics Review, 10 June 2009, available at: www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/3882/gangs-and-the-new-insurgency-in-latin-america.

2 John P. Sullivan, “From Drug Wars to Criminal Insurgency: Mexican Cartels, Criminal Enclaves and Criminal Insurgency in Mexico and Central America. Implications for Global Security”, Working Paper No. 9, Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme, Paris, April 2012, available at: https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00694083/document.

3 Robert J. Bunker, “Introduction: The Mexican Cartels – Organized Crime vs. Criminal Insurgency”, Trends in Organized Crime, Vol. 16, 2013, especially Table 1, available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12117-013-9194-4.

4 Sullivan, John P. and Bunker, Robert J., “Rethinking Insurgency: Criminality, Spirituality, and Societal Warfare in the Americas”, Small Wars & Insurgencies, Vol. 22, No. 5, 2011CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

5 Sullivan, John P., “Third Generation Street Gangs: Turf, Cartels and NetWarriors”, Transnational Organized Crime, Vol. 3, No. 2, Autumn 1997Google Scholar; John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker (eds), Strategic Notes on Third Generation Gangs, Xlibris, Bloomington, IN, 2020.

6 John P. Sullivan, “The Challenges of Territorial Gangs: Civil Strife, Criminal Insurgencies and Crime Wars”, Revista Do Ministério Público Militar (Brasil), Vol. XLIV, No. 31, November 2019, available at: https://revista.mpm.mp.br/artigo/the-challenges-of-territorial-gangs-civil-strife-criminal-insurgencies-and-crime-wars/.

7 Hazen, Jennifer M., “Understanding Gangs as Armed Groups”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 92, No. 878, 2010CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://international-review.icrc.org/articles/understanding-gangs-armed-groups.

8 Jonathan Franklin, “Can Anyone Stop Brazil's PCC?”, Americas Quarterly, 16 January 2018, available at: www.americasquarterly.org/fulltextarticle/can-anyone-stop-brazils-pcc/; Becky Kohler da Cruz and José de Arimatéia da Cruz, “Brazil's Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) and its National Security Implications”, Small Wars Journal, 26 November 2013, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/brazils-transnational-organized-crime-toc-and-its-national-security-implications.

9 Bryan Harris, “How Brazil's Largest Crime Syndicate Built a Global Drug Empire”, Financial Times, 28 February 2022, available at: www.ft.com/content/20fb5c77-baf1-45ab-a886-51cac68cfd4e.

10 Pablo A. Baisotti, “The Triple Border, a Criminal Haven”, Small Wars Journal, 12 November 2021, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/triple-border-criminal-haven; John P. Sullivan, “Criminal Enclaves: When Gangs, Cartels or Kingpins Try to Take Control”, Stratfor Threat Lens, 10 July 2019, available at: www.academia.edu/39800892/Criminal_Enclaves_When_Gangs_Cartels_or_Kingpins_Try_to_Take_Control; John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, “Drug Cartels, Street Gangs, and Warlords”, Small Wars & Insurgencies, Vol. 13, No. 2, 2002, available at: www.academia.edu/36483305/Drug_Cartels_Street_Gangs_and_Warlords.

11 Bailey, John and Taylor, Matthew M., “Evade, Corrupt, or Confront? Organized Crime and the State in Brazil and Mexico”, Journal of Politics in Latin America, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2009CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: www.casede.org/BibliotecaCasede/38-38-1-PB.pdf.

12 John P. Sullivan, “How Illicit Networks Impact Sovereignty”, in Michael Miklaucic and Jacqueline Brewer (eds), Convergence: Illicit Networks and National Security in the Age of Globalization, National Defense University Press, Washington, DC, 2013, available at: https://ndupress.ndu.edu/Portals/68/Documents/Books/convergence.pdf.

13 John de Boer and Louise Bosetti, “The Crime–Conflict ‘Nexus’: State of the Evidence”, Occasional Paper 5, United Nations University Centre for Policy Research, New York, July 2015, available at: https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:3134/unu_cpr_crime_conflict_nexus.pdf.

14 Lessing, Benjamin, “Logics of Violence in Criminal War”, Journal of Conflict Resolution, Vol. 59, No. 8, 2015CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

15 John P. Sullivan, “Criminal Insurgency: Narcocultura, Social Banditry, and Information Operations”, Small Wars Journal, 3 December 2012, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/criminal-insurgency-narcocultura-social-banditry-and-information-operations.

16 Alexander Elfes, “Militarised Criminal Networks and the Challenges They Present to the Military and Police”, Small Wars Journal, 10 July 2020, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/militarised-criminal-networks-mexico-and-challenges-they-present-military-and-police.

17 Longmire, Sylvia M. and Longmire, John P., “Redefining Terrorism: Why Mexican Drug Trafficking is More than Just Organized Crime”, Journal of Strategic Security, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2010Google Scholar, available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1044&context=jss; Chris Dalby, “How Mexico's Cartels Have Learned Military Tactics”, InSight Crime, 2 September 2022, available at: https://insightcrime.org/news/how-mexicos-cartel-have-learned-military-tactics/.

18 John P. Sullivan and Adam Elkus, “Tactics and Operations in the Mexican Drug War”, Infantry Magazine, September–October 2011, available at: www.academia.edu/12571867/Tactics_and_Operations_in_the_Mexican_Drug_War; Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan, “Cartel Car Bombings in Mexico”, The LeTort Papers, Strategic Studies Institute and US Army War College Press, Carlisle, PA, 1 August 2013, available at: https://ssi.armywarcollege.edu/2013/pubs/cartel-car-bombings-in-mexico/; Robert J. Bunker, “Cártel del Golfo (CDG) CCTV Cameras Seized in Ciudad Valles, San Luis Potosí”, C/O Futures Cartel Research Note Series, 7 November 2021, available at: www.cofutures.net/post/cártel-del-golfo-cdg-cctv-cameras-seized-in-ciudad-valles-san-luis-potos%C3%AD.

19 John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker (eds), Competition in Order and Progress: Criminal Insurgencies and Governance in Brazil, Xlibris, Bloomington, IN, 2022.

20 These are currently the main protagonists in Mexico's crime wars. See Nathan P. Jones, Irina A. Chindea, Daniel Weisz Argomedo and John P. Sullivan, “Mexico's 2021 Dark Network Alliance Structure: An Exploratory Social Network Analysis of Lantia Consultores’ Illicit Network Alliance and Subgroup Data”, Research Paper, Rice University's Baker Institute, Houston, TX, 11 April 2022, available at: www.bakerinstitute.org/research/mexicos-2021-dark-network-alliance-structure-an-exploratory-social-network-analysis-of-lantia-consul.

21 Council on Foreign Relations, “Mexico's Long War: Drugs, Crime, and the Cartels”, 26 February 2021, available at: www.cfr.org/backgrounder/mexicos-long-war-drugs-crime-and-cartels.

22 Andrew I. Rudman, “Mexico's Internally Displaced are an Unrecognized Migration Crisis”, The Hill, 5 October 2021, available at: https://thehill.com/opinion/international/575310-mexicos-internally-displaced-are-an-unrecognized-migration-crisis/.

23 Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, The Global Organized Crime Index 2021, Geneva, available at: https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/ocindex-2021/.

24 Laura Y. Calderón, Kimberly Heinle, Rita E. Kuckertz, Octavio Rodríguez Ferreira and David A. Shirk (eds), Organized Crime and Violence in Mexico: 2021 Special Report, Justice in Mexico, University of San Diego, San Diego, CA, October 2021, pp. 31–2, available at: https://justiceinmexico.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/OCVM-21.pdf.

25 Ibid., p. 34.

26 Ibid., quote from CPJ, “49 Journalists Killed”, at p. 35.

27 The agencies deployed were the Policía Federal (Federal Police, now Guardia Nacional), the Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR, Attorney General's Office, now the Fiscalía General de la República, FGR), Subprocuraduría Especializada en Investigación de Delincuencia Organizada (SEIDO; Assistant Attorney General's Office for Special Investigations on Organized Crime), Mexican Army (Ejercito, Secretaría de Defensa Nacional; SEDENA) and the Mexican Navy (Marina, Secretaría de la Marina; SEMAR).

28 Vanda Felbab-Brown, “Criminal Violence, Politics, and State Capture in Michoacán”, Brookings, 24 September 2021, available at: www.brookings.edu/opinions/criminal-violence-politics-and-state-capture-in-michoacan/.

29 The so-called Guadalajara Cartel was known for establishing the plaza system from which many major cartels in Mexico are descended. It was led by Miguel Ángel Félix Gallardo who is also implicated in the murder of US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena. Félix Gallardo denies responsibility but was convicted for the murder in 2017. See Issa Osorio, “Guadalajara Drug Cartel Founder, in First Interview, Talks About Murdered DEA Agent”, NBC News, 19 August 2021, available at: www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/guadalajara-drug-cartel-founder-first-interview-talks-murdered-dea-age-rcna1715; Carlos Pérez Ricart and Jack Pannell, “The Guadalajara Cartel Never Existed”, Noria Research, Paris, November 2021, available at: https://noria-research.com/the-guadalajara-cartel-never-existed/. Camarena's assassination is arguably the first political assassination of the drug war. See Laura Ross Blume, “The Old Rules No Longer Apply: Explaining Narco-Assassinations of Mexican Politicians”, Journal of Politics in Latin America, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2017, available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1866802X1700900103. The CDS was led by “El Chapo” Joaquin Guzmán Loera, who is now incarcerated in the United States, who founded it along with “El Mayo” Ismael Zambada García, its current leader.

30 InSight Crime, “Sinaloa Cartel”, 4 May 2021, available at: https://insightcrime.org/mexico-organized-crime-news/sinaloa-cartel-profile/.

31 Javier Valdez Cárdenas, The Taken: True Stories of the Sinaloa Drug War, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK, 2017; Alejandro Santos Cid, “An Inside Look at Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel”, El País, 16 February 2022, available at: https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-02-16/an-inside-look-at-mexicos-sinaloa-cartel.html.

32 Nathan P. Jones, Mexico's Illicit Drug Networks and the State Reaction, Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC, 2016.

33 Scott Neuman and Carrie Kahn, “Massive Gun Battle Erupts In Mexico Over Son Of Drug Kingpin ‘El Chapo’”, NPR, 18 October 2019, available at: www.npr.org/2019/10/18/771216750/massive-gun-battle-erupts-in-mexico-over-son-of-drug-kingpin-el-chapo; Andréa Schmidt, “The Weekly: Episode 20: ‘The Siege of Culiacán’”, New York Times, 8 December 2019, available at: www.nytimes.com/2019/11/15/the-weekly/el-chapo-guzman-son.html; Jorge Monroy, “Y la entidad, con al menos 8,000 soldados, policías y de la GN”, El Economista, 21 October 2019, available at: www.eleconomista.com.mx/politica/Y-la-entidad-con-al-menos-8000--soldados-policias-y-de-la-GN-20191020-0059.html.

34 J. Monroy, ibid.

35 Ibid.

36 START, “Tracking Cartels Infographic Series: The Violent Rise of Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG)”, START National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, available at: www.start.umd.edu/tracking-cartels-infographic-series-violent-rise-c-rtel-de-jalisco-nueva-generaci-n-cjng.

37 Ibid.

38 Luis Chaparro, “The Jalisco Cartel is Dropping Death Threats From the Skies”, Vice, 10 March 2022, available at: www.vice.com/en/article/bvn3ea/cjng-cartel-planes-death-threat-flyers.

39 Samuel Logan and John P. Sullivan, “The Gulf-Zeta Split and the Praetorian Revolt”, ISN, ETH Zürich, 7 April 2010, available at: https://css.ethz.ch/en/services/digital-library/articles/article.html/114551.

40 Steven Dudley, “The Zetas’ Model of Organized Crime is Leaving Mexico in Ruins”, InSight Crime, 30 August 2021, available at: https://insightcrime.org/news/zetas-model-organized-crime-mexico-ruins/.

41 Ibid.

42 Parker Asmann, “Mexico's Zetas: From Criminal Powerhouse to Fragmented Remnants”, InSight Crime, 6 April 2018, available at: https://insightcrime.org/news/analysis/mexico-zetas-criminal-powerhouse-fragmented-remnants/; Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, Los Zetas Inc.: Criminal Corporations, Energy, and Civil War in Mexico, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 2017.

43 Jones, Nathan P. and Sullivan, John P., “Huachicoleros: Criminal Cartels, Fuel Theft, and Violence in Mexico”, Journal of Strategic Security, Vol. 12, No. 4, 2019CrossRefGoogle Scholar, available at: https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1742&context=jss; International Crisis Group, “Keeping Oil from the Fire: Tackling Mexico's Fuel Theft Racket”, Latin America Briefing No. 46, Mexico City/New York/Brussels, 25 March 2022, available at: https://d2071andvip0wj.cloudfront.net/b046-mexico-fuel-theft.pdf.

44 Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan, “Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #41: Cártel Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) Logo and Symbols Identification”, Small Wars Journal, 3 April 2019, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/index.php/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-tactical-note-41-cartel-santa-rosa-de-lima-csrl-logo-and-symbols.

45 John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, “Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #40: Cártel Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) Tunnels in Guanajuato Highlights Tactical Considerations in Underground Operations”, Small Wars Journal, 22 March 2019, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-tactical-note-40-cartel-santa-rosa-de-lima-csrl-tunnels-guanajuato.

46 Robert J. Bunker, Alma Keshavarz and John P. Sullivan, “Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #39: GoPro Video Social Media Posting of Cártel Santa Rosa de Lima (CSRL) Tactical Action Against Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) in Guanajuato – Indications & Warning (I&W) Concerns”, Small Wars Journal, 5 March 2019, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-tactical-note-39-gopro-video-social-media-posting-cartel-santa-rosa-de-lima.

47 John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, “Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 27: Confronting the State – Explosive Artifacts, Threats, Huachicoleros, and Cartel Competition in Guanajuato, MX”, Small Wars Journal, 14 March 2019, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-strategic-note-no-27-confronting-state-explosive-artifacts-threats; Robert J. Bunker, John P. Sullivan, David A. Kuhn and Alma Keshavarz, “Use of IEDs and VBIEDs in Mexican Crime Wars”, Counter-IED Report, Spring/Summer 2021, available at: www.academia.edu/49100323/Use_of_IEDs_and_VBIEDs_in_Mexican_Crime_Wars.

48 John P. Sullivan, “Explosive Escalation? Reflections on the Car Bombing in Ciudad Juarez”, Small Wars Journal, 21 July 2010, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/explosive-escalation; R. J. Bunker and J, P. Sullivan, above note 18, pp. 18–19, Table 2.

49 Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan, “Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 28: Alleged Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) Car Bombing (‘Coche Bomba’) in Colombia”, Small Wars Journal, 5 December 2019, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-strategic-note-no-28-alleged-cartel-de-jalisco-nueva-generacion-cjng-car; Robert J. Bunker, David A. Kuhn and John P. Sullivan, “Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #42: Car Bomb in Apaseo el Alto, Guanajuato with Remote Detonation IED (‘Papa Bomba’) Payload”, Small Wars Journal, 7 January 2020, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-tactical-note-42-car-bomb-apaseo-el-alto-guanajuato-remote-detonation-ied.

50 J. P. Sullivan, above note 5.

51 The Economist, “The Mob Takes on the State”, 18 May 2006, p. 39, available at: www.economist.com/the-Americas/2006/05/18/the-mob-takes-on-the-state.

52 Ibid.

53 Rogerio Jelmayer, Kejal Vyas and Samantha Pearson, “Brazilian Gang Enlists FARC Rebels for Drug Trade”, Wall Street Journal, 31 January 2017, available at: www.wsj.com/articles/brazilian-gang-enlists-farc-rebels-for-drug-trade-1485858609.

54 Jonathan Watts, “‘Heist of the Century’: Brazilian Gang Hits Security Vault and Police HQ in Paraguay”, The Guardian, 25 April 2017, available at: www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/25/paraguay-heist-brazil-gangsters-dynamite-speedboat.

55 John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 5: Brazilian Military Stability and Support Operations (SASO) in Rio de Janeiro's Favelas”, Small Wars Journal, 9 November 2017, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-5-brazilian-military-stability-and-support.

56 John P. Sullivan, José de Arimatéia da Cruz and Robert J. Bunker, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 10: Military Takes Control of Policing in Rio de Janeiro”, Small Wars Journal, 23 February 2018, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-10-military-takes-control-policing-rio-de-janeiro.

57 Jo Griffin, “‘Climate of Panic’: Bombings in Brazil Reveal Growing Power of Gangs”, The Guardian, 15 January 2019, available at: www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/jan/15/climate-of-panic-bombings-in-brazil-reveal-growing-power-of-gangs?CMP=share_btn_tw.

58 Robert J. Bunker, José de Arimatéia da Cruz and John P. Sullivan, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 19: Comando Classe A (CCA) Massacre of Comando Vermelho (CV) Gang Members in Altamira Prison, Brazil – 58 Dead (Including 16 Decapitations)”, Small Wars Journal, 6 August 2019, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-19-comando-classe-cca-massacre-comando-vermelho.

59 John P. Sullivan, José de Arimatéia da Cruz and Robert J. Bunker, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 40: Força Nacional de Segurança Pública Deployed to Manaus in Aftermath of Comando Vermelho Violence on the Streets”, Small Wars Journal, 28 June 2021, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-40-forca-nacional-de-seguranca-publica-deployed?fbclid=IwAR3ATiC8W6T1M7N7woAVSkNzElwQInvEkb5SKdZ1AP2m36PqymViUZ-_E4k.

60 Terrence McCoy, “Rio Police were Ordered to Limit Favela Raids During the Pandemic. They're Still Killing Hundreds of People”, Washington Post, 20 May 2022, available at: www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/05/20/brazil-police-rio-jacarezinho-favela-raid/.

61 Robert Muggah, “Rio's Bloody Police Campaign”, Small Wars Journal, 7 May 2021, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/rios-bloody-police-campaign; John P. Sullivan, Robert J. Bunker, and José de Arimatéia da Cruz, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 36: High Casualty Civil Police Raid in Rio de Janeiro's Jacarezinho Favela Raises Human Rights Concerns”, Small Wars Journal, 25 May 2021, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-36-high-casualty-civil-police-raid-rio-de.

62 John P. Sullivan, José de Arimatéia da Cruz and Robert J. Bunker, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 42: Brazilian Gangs Utilize Human Shields, Explosives, and Drones in a New ‘Cangaço’ Style Urban Bank Raid in Araçatuba, São Paulo”, Small Wars Journal, 5 September 2021, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-42-brazilian-gangs-utilize-human-shields.

63 Ibid.; and John P. Sullivan, “Policing Urban Conflict: Urban Siege, Terrorism and Insecurity”, Stratfor, 10 April 2018, available at: www.academia.edu/36721271/Policing_Urban_Conflict_Urban_Siege_Terrorism_and_Insecurity; John P. Sullivan and Adam Elkus, “Postcard from Mumbai: Modern Urban Siege”, Small Wars Journal, 16 February 2009, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/postcard-mumbai-modern-urban-siege.

64 Luís Adorno, “PCC manda matar juízes e promotora de MG por descobrirem ações da facção, diz investigação”, Noticias R7, 30 March 2022, available at: https://noticias.r7.com/cidades/pcc-manda-matar-juizes-e-promotora-de-mg-por-descobrirem-acoes-da-faccao-diz-investigacao-30032022.

65 John P. Sullivan, José de Arimatéia da Cruz and Robert J. Bunker, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 32: Militias (Milícias) Surpass Gangs (Gangues) in Territorial Control in Rio de Janeiro”, Small Wars Journal, 26 October 2020, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-32-militias-milicias-surpass-gangs-gangues; Christian Vianna de Azevedo, “Criminal Insurgency in Brazil – The Case of Rio de Janeiro: Context, Confrontation Issues and Implications for Brazilian Public Security”, Small Wars Journal, 22 January 2018, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/criminal-insurgency-brazil.

66 Eric Hobsbawm, Bandits, The New Press, New York, 2000, 1969; Eric Hobsbawm, Primitive Rebels: Studies in Archaic Forms of Social Movement in the 19th and 20th Centuries. W.W. Norton & Company, New York, 1959.

67 Campbell, Howard, Drug War Zone: Frontline Dispatches from the Streets of El Paso and Juárez, University of Texas Press, Austin, TX, 2009CrossRefGoogle Scholar; J. P. Sullivan, above note 15.

68 J. P. Sullivan, ibid.

69 Ibid.; Robert J. Bunker and Alma Keshavarz (eds), Los Caballeros Templarios de Michoacán: Imagery, Symbolism, and Narratives, Small Wars Foundation, Bethesda, MD, 2019, available at: www.academia.edu/38806893/Los_Caballeros_Templarios_de_Michoacán_Imagery_Symbolism_and_Narratives.

70 John P. Sullivan, “Postscript: Narcocultura, Insurgencies, and State Change”, in R. J. Bunker and A. Keshavarz, ibid.

71 Ibid.

72 Robert Muggah, “In Brazil, Religious Gangs Leaders Say They're Waging a Holy War”, The Conversation, 2 November 2017, available at: https://theconversation.com/in-brazil-religious-gang-leaders-say-theyre-waging-a-holy-war-86097.

73 John P. Sullivan, Robert J. Bunker and José de Arimatéia da Cruz, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 30: Traficante Evangélico (Evangelical Trafficker) Creates ‘Complexo de Israel’ Using Confessional Violence to Consolidate Control in Five Rio Favelas”, Small Wars Journal, 4 August 2020, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-30-traficante-evangelico-evangelical-trafficker.

74 Marco Antônio Martins and Lilia Teles, “Traficantes do Complexo de Israel erguem ponte para circular entre favelas e evitar vigilância policial”, G1 (Globo), 19 October 2021, available at: https://g1.globo.com/rj/rio-de-janeiro/noticia/2021/10/19/ponte-trafico-complexo-de-israel.ghtml.

75 John P. Sullivan, “Humanitarian Diplomacy for Protecting Vulnerable Persons and Humanitarian Aid Workers in Civil Strife and Non-International Armed Conflict in Mexico and Central America's Northern Triangle”, Vortex Working Paper No. 52, 2020, available at: www.academia.edu/43140694/Humanitarian_Diplomacy_for_Protecting_Vulnerable_Persons_and_Humanitarian_Aid_Workers_in_Civil_Strife_and_Non_International_Armed_Conflict_in_Mexico_and_Central_Americas_Northern_Triangle.

76 Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, “Mexico, Annual Conflict and Disaster Displacement”, 2019, available at: www.internal-displacement.org/countries/mexico.

77 J. P. Sullivan, above note 75, p. 8. Also, see David Agren, “Violence Rife in Mexico, Affecting Medical Community”, The Lancet, Vol. 391, No. 10128, available at: www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(18)30738-4/fulltext.

78 Marc Lacey, “Hospitals Now a Theater in Mexico's Drug War”, New York Times, 5 December 2008, available at: www.nytimes.com/2008/12/05/world/americas/05iht-05mexico.18426237.html.

79 Associated Press, “Tijuana Drug Violence Threatens Hospital”, NBC News, 29 April 2008, available at: www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna24372823.

80 Diane E. Davis, quoted by Peter Dizikes, “An Altered State”, PHYSORG.com, 19 April 2010 at J. P. Sullivan, above note 2, p. 7.

81 J. P. Sullivan, above note 2, p. 9.

82 Marcos González Díaz, “Cómo los carteles en México están usando armas no convencionales como si fueran ejércitos en guerra”, BBC Mundo, 24 March 2022, available at: www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-60486794.

83 C. Dalby, above note 17.

84 Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan (eds), Illicit Tactical Progress: Mexican Cartel Notes 2013–2020, Xlibris, Bloomington, IN, 2021.

85 An earlier Cárteles Unidos mine incident targeted the CJNG in early January 2021. A similar indications and warning incident involving improvised anti-vehicle mines was reported in October 2021. In the aftermath of the January 2021 incident, Government of Mexico forces, including the Guardia Nacional, SEDENA, as well as Policía Michoacán (Michoacán Police) and agents of the Fiscalía Genral del Estado (Michoacán state prosecutor) saturated the area. La Opinión, “VIDEO: Explota con mina camión blindado del CJNG, sicarios del Mencho así cayeron en trampa [VIDEO: CJNG's Armoured Truck Explodes with Mine, Mencho's Hired Killers Fall into Trap]”, 3 January 2021, available at: https://laopinion.com/2021/01/03/video-explota-con-mina-camion-blindado-del-cjng-sicarios-del-mencho-asi-cayeron-en-trampa/.

86 DW (Deutsche Welle), “Mexico: Soldiers to Remove Land Mines Planted by Cartels”, 19 February 2022, available at: www.dw.com/en/mexico-soldiers-to-remove-land-mines-planted-by-cartels/a-60839983.

87 Elena Reina, “In Sign of Escalating Violence, Mexico's Narcos Plant Land Mines in Tierra Caliente”, El País, 17 February 2022, available at: https://english.elpais.com/international/2022-02-17/in-sign-of-escalating-violence-mexicos-narcos-plant-land-mines-in-tierra-caliente.html.

88 Ernesto Martínez Elorriaga, “Sedena desactiva 250 minas caseras en Michoacán en tres semanas”, La Jornada, 20 February 2022, available at: www.jornada.com.mx/notas/2022/02/20/estados/sedena-desactiva-250-minas-caseras-en-michoacan-en-tres-semanas/.

89 Jorge Martínez, “Ejército mexicano usa lanzacohetes para enfrentar al CJNG en Zacatecas”, Milenio, 1 March 2022, available at: www.milenio.com/politica/ejercito-mexicano-lanzacohetes-enfrentar-cjng-zacatecas.

90 Bunker, Robert J. and Sullivan, John P., Criminal Drone Evolution: Cartel Weaponization of Aerial IEDs, Xlibris, Bloomington, IN, 2021Google Scholar.

91 John P. Sullivan, Robert J. Bunker and David A. Kuhn, “Mexican Cartel Tactical Note #38: Armed Drone Targets the Baja California Public Safety Secretary's Residence in Tecate, Mexico”, Small Wars Journal, 6 August 2018, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-tactical-note-38-armed-drone-targets-baja-california-public-safety.

92 Robert J. Bunker, Terrorist and Insurgent Unmanned Aerial Vehicles: Use, Potentials, and Military Implications, Strategic Studies Institute and US Army War College Press, Carlisle, PA, 2015; R. J. Bunker and J. P. Sullivan, above note 90.

93 Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan, “Mexican Cartels are Embracing Aerial Drones and They're Spreading”, War on the Rocks, 11 November 2021, available at: https://warontherocks.com/2021/11/mexican-cartels-are-embracing-aerial-drones-and-theyre-spreading/.

94 John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker (eds), COVID-19, Gangs, and Conflict, Xlibris, Bloomington, IN, 2020; Tuesday Reitano and Mark Shaw, Criminal Contagion: How Mafias, Gangsters and Scammers Profit from a Pandemic, Hurst & Co., London, 2021.

95 John P. Sullivan, “How COVID-19 is Influencing Organized Crime and Conflict”, Homeland Security Today, 25 January 2021, available at: www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/counterterrorism/how-covid-19-is-influencing-organized-crime-and-conflict/.

96 Economía Hoy, “Reportan entrega de despensas del Cártel del Golfo en Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas”, 6 April 2020, available at: www.economiahoy.mx/nacional-eAm-mx/noticias/10466405/04/20/Reportan-entrega-de-despensas-del-Cartel-del-Golfo-en-Ciudad-Victoria-Tamaulipas.html.

97 La Verdad Noticias, “CJNG reparte despensa por coronavirus ahora en San Luis Potosí”, 14 April 2020, available at: https://laverdadnoticias.com/crimen/CJNG-reparte-despensa-por-coronavirus-ahora-en-San-Luis-Potosi-20200414-0033.html.

98 Reports on the Zetas’ aid are fragmentary and contained in social media. See, Ignacio Carvajal's Facebook Page. Reposted by Código Veracruz Noticias, 16 April 2020, available at: www.facebook.com/CodigoVeracruzNoticias/posts/2590548131267420. The details, along with analysis are recounted in Robert J. Bunker and John P. Sullivan, “Mexican Cartel Strategic Note No. 29: An Overview of Cartel Activities Related to COVID-19 Humanitarian Response”, Small Wars Journal, 8 May 2020, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/mexican-cartel-strategic-note-no-29-overview-cartel-activities-related-covid-19.

99 Drazen Jorgic, “El Chapo's Daughter, Mexican Cartels Hand Out Coronavirus Aid”, Reuters, 17 April 2020, available at: www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-mexico-cartels/el-chapos-daughter-mexican-cartels-hand-out-coronavirus-aid-idUSKBN21Y3J7?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=Social.

100 Frontera Al Rojo Vivo, “VIDEO.– Chapitos Sicarios del Cártel de Sinaloa lo levantan y tablean por no respetar sus ordenes de no salir por COVID-19”, 19 April 2020, available at: https://lare2s.blogspot.com/2020/04/video-chapitos-sicarios-del-cartel-de.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter.

101 Infobae, “Los Viagras y el Cártel del Golfo: qué cárteles se están aprovechando del coronavirus para repartir despensas”, 7 April 2020, available at: www.infobae.com/america/mexico/2020/04/07/los-viagras-y-el-cartel-del-golfo-que-carteles-se-estan-aprovechando-del-coronavirus-para-repartir-despensas/.

102 L. Y. Calderón et al., above note 24, pp. 52–4.

103 Robert Muggah and Steven Dudley, “COVID-19 is Reconfiguring Organized Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean”, Small Wars Journal, 2 March 2021, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/covid-19-reconfiguring-organized-crime-latin-america-and-caribbean.

104 J. P. Sullivan, above note 2.

105 Ibid.

106 Ibid.

107 Ibid. This is the situation in parts of Mexico, such as the reaction by La Familia against Mexican military and intelligence in July 2009 and the PCC attacks against state forces and use of quasi-terrorist attacks to influence policy discussed above.

108 Ibid. Also, see John P. Sullivan and Robert J. Bunker, “Third Generation Gangs Strategic Note No. 41: Criminal Insurgency and ‘Revolution’ in Haiti?” Small Wars Journal, 2 July 2021, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/third-generation-gangs-strategic-note-no-41-criminal-insurgency-and-revolution-haiti; Ryan Dube and José de Córdoba, “Gangs Threaten to Tip Haiti Into a Failed State”, Wall Street Journal, 19 October 2021, available at: www.wsj.com/articles/gangs-threaten-to-tip-haiti-into-a-failed-state-11634654955; Renata Segura, “Haiti's State of Paralysis: How to Break the Deadly Relationship Between Politics and Crime”, Foreign Affairs, 20 April 2022, available at: www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/haiti/2022-04-20/haitis-state-paralysis.

109 In International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), The Prosecutor v. Fatmir Limaj, Haradin Bala and Isak Musliu, Case No. IT-03-66-T, Judgment (Trial Chamber II), 30 November 2005, §170, available at: www.icty.org/x/cases/limaj/tjug/en/lim-tj051130-e.pdf:

[t]he determination of the existence of an armed conflict is based solely on two criteria: the intensity of the conflict and organisation of the parties, the purpose of the armed forces to engage in acts of violence or also achieve some further objective is, therefore, irrelevant.

110 International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), “The International Committee of the Red Cross's (ICRC's) Role in Situations of Violence Below the Threshold of Armed Conflict: Policy Document, February 2014”, International Review of the Red Cross, Vol. 96, No. 893, 2014, available at: www.cambridge.org/core/journals/international-review-of-the-red-cross/article/abs/international-committee-of-the-red-crosss-icrcs-role-in-situations-of-violence-below-the-threshold-of-armed-conflict/64183418A12D456A04D7BB59529547D5.

111 Creveld, Martin van, The Transformation of War, The Free Press, New York, 1991Google Scholar. See also, Manwaring, Max G., Street Gangs: The New Urban Insurgency, Strategic Studies Institute and US Army War College Press, Carlisle, PA, 2005Google Scholar.

112 Watkin, Kenneth, Fighting at the Legal Boundaries, Oxford University Press, New York, 2016CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

113 R. J. Bunker, above note 3.

114 J. P. Sullivan, above note 12.

115 David Teiner, “Cartel-Related Violence in Mexico as Narco-Terrorism or Criminal Insurgency: A Literature Review”, Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 14, No. 4; David Teiner, “Bibliography: Terrorism and Organized Crime in Latin America”, Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 14, No. 4.

116 Julietta Pelcastre, “Mexican Narcotrafficking Cartels Expand their Control in Colombia”, Diálogo Americas, 12 May 2021, available at: https://dialogo-americas.com/articles/mexican-narcotrafficking-cartels-expand-their-control-in-colombia/#.YrzN-y-B2X0.

117 Juan Diego Cárdenas, “Paraguay: The New Safe Haven for Brazilian Traffickers, Money Launderers”, InSight Crime, 25 February 2022, available at: https://insightcrime.org/news/paraguay-the-new-safe-haven-for-brazilian-traffickers-money-launderers/.

118 K. Watkin, above note 112. See especially Chapter 1, for an overview of the challenges.

119 ICRC, “Commentary of 2016, Article 3: Conflicts not of an International Character”, IHL Database: Treaties, States Parties and Commentaries, Geneva, available at: https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/applic/ihl/ihl.nsf/Comment.xsp?action=openDocument&documentId=59F6CDFA490736C1C1257F7D004BA0EC.

120 RULAC, “Non-International Armed Conflicts in Mexico”, RULAC, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Geneva, 30 May 2021, available at: www.rulac.org/browse/conflicts/non-international-armed-conflict-in-mexico; Sullivan, John P., “Non-International Armed Conflict: Mexico and Colombia”, Revista do Ministério Público Militar (Brasil), Vol. XLVI, No. 35, 25 November 2021Google Scholar, available at: www.academia.edu/62379204/Non_International_Armed_Conflict_Mexico_and_Colombia.

121 RULAC, “International Humanitarian Law Applies to The Armed Confrontations Between Mexico and The Jalisco Cartel New Generation”, RULAC, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Geneva, 12 February 2019, available at: www.geneva-academy.ch/news/detail/209-international-humanitarian-law-applies-to-the-armed-confrontations-between-mexico-and-the-jalisco-cartel-new-generation.

122 RULAC, “Two New Non-International Armed Conflicts in Mexico Involving the Sinaloa Drug Cartel”, RULAC, Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights, Geneva, 10 March 2020, available at: www.rulac.org/news/two-new-non-international-armed-conflicts-in-mexico-involving-the-sinaloa-d.

123 Ibid.

124 Ibid.

125 J. P. Sullivan and R. J. Bunker, above note 19.

126 Carlos Frederico De Oliveira Pereira, “Gray Zones and Crime Suppression: Between International Human Rights Law and International Law of Armed Conflicts”, Small Wars Journal, 5 February 2020, available at: https://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/gray-zones-and-crime-suppression-between-international-human-rights-law-and-international.

127 On the application of IHL, see Annyssa Bellal, “ICRC Commentary of Common Article 3: Some questions relating to organized armed groups and the applicability of IHL”, EJIL:Talk!, 5 October 2017, available at: www.ejiltalk.org/icrc-commentary-of-common-article-3-some-questions-relating-to-organized-armed-groups-and-the-applicability-of-ihl/; also see ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Dusko Tadić (a/k/a “Dule”), Case No. IT-94-1, Decision on the Defence Motion for Interlocutory Appeal on Jurisdiction (Appeals Chamber), 2 October 1995, §70, available at: www.icty.org/x/cases/tadic/acdec/en/51002.htm; ICTY, The Prosecutor v. Ljube Boškoski and Johan Tarčulovski, Case No. IT-04-82-T, Judgment (Trial Chamber II), 10 July 2008, paras 195 ff, available at: www.icty.org/x/cases/boskoski_tarculovski/tjug/en/080710.pdf.

128 Quasi-terrorist acts utilize terrorist modus operandi/TTPs but lack overt political aims. For a discussion of quasi-terrorism, see National Advisory Committee on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, Disorders and Terrorism – Report of the Task Force on Disorders and Terrorism, US Department of Justice, Washington, DC, 1976, especially p. 5, available at: www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/disorders-and-terrorism-report-task-force-disorders-and-terrorism.