Organized crime in Latin America is evolving as drug gangs diversify their portfolios into human trafficking. They repurpose existing infrastructure, such as corrupt official contacts and money laundering networks built for the cocaine trade, to run these new operations. This strategic shift has turned previously separate criminal networks into interconnected 'best friends.'

A novel form of organized crime involves gangs buying small, established freight forwarding businesses. They leverage the company's legitimate reputation to take possession of high-value shipping containers, steal the goods, and then promptly shut down the business and disappear, making the crime nearly untraceable.

The "kingpin strategy" of targeting cartel leaders can be counterproductive. Removing a strong leader like El Mencho, who maintained vertical control, often leads to the cartel's fragmentation. This results in violent internecine conflicts as factions vie for power, ultimately increasing overall violence in the region.

An FBI agent's memoir reveals that a cartel's linchpin is not the smuggler but the business-savvy launderer. These white-collar professionals devise complex schemes, like trading drug money for legitimate goods like cigarettes, to make illicit profits usable. This financial engineering is the most vital part of the operation.

The successful crackdown on the relatively business-minded Sinaloa cartel created a power vacuum. This void was filled by the more brutal Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which uses extreme violence as its primary business model. This inadvertently worsened the security situation by replacing a predictable actor with a chaotic one.

The actual business of a high-level drug enterprise is not just selling a product, but managing immense risk. Their competitive advantage—their "moat"—is the ability to navigate a system of extreme violence and legal peril, which requires a high level of entrepreneurial skill.

Mexico's progress against crime is highly localized. While states like Zacatecas see murder rates fall steeply due to methodical police reform, others like Sinaloa remain nightmarish 'war zones' controlled by cartels. This demonstrates that national-level policies do not produce uniform results on the ground.

Drug trafficking has shifted from vertically integrated cartels to a fluid network of specialized subcontractors. This model, similar to tech manufacturing, makes the supply chain more resilient to disruption and fosters innovation in cultivation, smuggling, and money laundering, making it harder for law enforcement to disrupt.

The nature of cartel violence in Mexico has shifted from traditional drug wars to battles for local economic power. Cartels are deeply integrated into the economy and government, competing for diversified revenue streams like fuel theft, extortion, and control over local supply chains.