The Use of Social Media by Alleged Members of Mexican Cartels and Affiliated Drug Trafficking Organizations
Abstract
Focusing on Mexican cartels and affiliated drug trafficking organizations, this article examines how self-proclaimed cartel members use social media to further the criminal activities of their organizations. Employing an open-source, intelligence-driven methodology, the authors identified, followed, and mapped the connections between and among 75 alleged cartel members over a period of 4 months. Results indicated that cartel members actively use Facebook to plan, organize, and communicate in real-time. These findings provide tentative validation to the utility of using open-source social media platforms to study the social structure and operations of Mexican drug cartels. Implications for law enforcement, homeland security, and the intelligence enterprise are discussed.
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Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Opinion
- Biodefense Spending and Waste: Impact on Public Health Initiatives
- Research Articles
- An Innovative System to Enhance Situational Awareness in Disaster Response
- Rethinking Crisis Communications on Campus: An Evaluation of Faculty and Staff Perceptions about Emergency Notification Systems
- Disaster Preparedness Resource Allocation and Technical Support for Native American Tribes in California
- A Systems-Of-Systems Conceptual Model and Live Virtual Constructive Simulation Framework for Improved Nuclear Disaster Emergency Preparedness, Response, and Mitigation
- The Use of Social Media by Alleged Members of Mexican Cartels and Affiliated Drug Trafficking Organizations