ON THE SOUTHWEST BORDER Understanding the Gang Threat

09/21/10

Mexican drug cartels run the billion-dollar trafficking operations that bring so much crime and violence to both sides of the Southwest border. But it’s street gangs that carry out the cartels’ dirty work of smuggling, extortion, and murder. Understanding the gangs—their structure, culture, and tactics—is the job of agents who specialize in collecting human intelligence, or HUMINT.

A Team Effort to Fight Drugs

Our El Paso HUMINT squad is co-located with personnel from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program. Federal HIDTA funds help coordinate anti-drug efforts among local, state, and federal law enforcement and provide equipment, technology, and resources to fight drug trafficking. HIDTA is one of many federal programs aimed at combating the drug trade.

In our El Paso Field Office, the HUMINT squad pays particular attention to Barrio Azteca, the city’s predominant gang whose leaders regularly do business from prison—even authorizing contract killings.

“The focus of the HUMINT squad is not to worry about making individual cases,â€