Whack-a-mole Drug War: Transnational Criminal Organizations and Mexico's Drug Wars

From the TransBroder Project of the Center for International Policy

Border Lines: Transnational Criminal Organizations and Mexico's Drug Wars: "Recent declarations by the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Defense, along with the U.S. military, routinely characterize the Mexican drug-trafficking organizations as Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), warning about associated “transnational threats” and endangered U.S. national security.

Neither the government nor the military offers an explanation for the wholesale adoption of the TCO designation. Nor do they provide any definition of transnational criminal organization, or explain why the previously common usage of drug cartels, organized crime organizations, and drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs) no longer suffice."