WILLIAM J. PERRY CENTER FOR HEMISPHERIC DEFENSE STUDIES Regional Insights

2018 Edition, No. 2 (March)

The Evolving Role of the Security Forces to Counter Transnational Organized Crime in the Americas by Celina B. Realuyo

Summary:

As transnational organized crime increasingly presents a national security threat throughout Latin America, governments must re-examine the roles and responsibilities of their security forces, both military and police, to ensure the welfare, security, prosperity and sovereignty of their countries. To reduce drug-related violence per- petrated by the Mexican cartels, President Felipe Calderon deployed the military to complement police efforts across Mexico in 2006; after 10 years of the armed forces countering the cartels, there is a heated debate over how the military and police should be engaged in internal security as homicides are on the rise. In 2011, the U.S. issued a national strategy to combat transnational organized crime recognizing the seriousness of the threats from transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) to the Americas. As Colombia transitions from fighting the decades-long FARC armed insurgency to implementing the peace accord in the “post-conflict” era, counter-

Regional Insights is a publication of the William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies. The views represented are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Perry Center, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government. This manuscript was originally published in Transformacion Militar from the Centro De Análisis Estratégico Ejército Del Futuro (CAEEF) in Colombia in 2017. Copies of Perry Center publications can be obtained on the Perry Center website at: www.williamjperrycenter.org Regional Insights ing transnational organized crime has become a top money and data. While crime is not a new phenome- priority and will entail an evolving role of the police non, the magnitude, velocity, wealth and violence of and military to fight TCOs. Governments will need a illicit activities are empowering transnational crimi- strong legal framework, clearly defined missions for nal organizations that undermine sovereignty, econ- the military and police, specialized training, and tal- omy and citizen security in Latin America. Criminal ent recruitment and retention to realize security sec- networks like the Mexican cartels, Central American tor reform to counter transnational organized crime gangs and the Russian mafia do not respect the rule effectively across the Americas. of law and challenge state authority.

The Evolving Threat from Transnational Organized Crime:

Transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) threat- en the security and prosperity of countries through- out the Western Hemisphere at an estimated cost of 3.5% of GDP to the region, according to the Inter- American Development Bank. Since the end of the Cold War, illicit networks, comprised of terrorists, criminals and proliferators, have increasingly capi- talized on globalization to expand their criminal Photo caption: U.S. Coast Guard personnel from Cutter Stead- fast detain members from a Low Profile Vessel in the Eastern agendas. Leading U.S. Southern Command, Admiral Pacific Ocean. The vessel was transporting over 3,200 pounds of cocaine when it was intercepted in November 2017. Photo Kurt Tidd explained before Congress in April 2017, credit: U.S. Coast Guard. “transregional and transnational threat networks are In recent years, TCOs have transformed from now the principal threat to regional security and sta- local, specialized criminal mafias into powerful bility [in Latin America]. These networks operate transregional-transnational criminal organizations unconstrained by legal and geographic boundaries, that have diversified their activities across the world. unimpeded by morality, and fueled by enormous In many cases, international drug cartels, mafias, and profits. They prey on weak institutions and exploit gangs are better armed, funded, and trained than the the interconnected nature of our modern financial, government security forces charged with confronting transportation and communication systems and the them. In the face of these powerful and violent TCOs, seams in our organizational boundaries.”1 governments are struggling to fulfill their basic While terrorist groups are driven by political mission to provide security, promote prosperity, or religious ideology, transnational criminal organi- guarantee the rule of law, and respect and represent zations are motivated by maximizing profits. They the political will of their people. They must reassess exploit global supply chains across the land, air, sea and reorganize the efforts of their security forces to and cyber domains to move goods, people, services, better confront TCOs and promote citizen security.

1 Posture Statement of Admiral Kurt W. Tidd, Commander, United States Southern Command before the 115th Congress, Senate Armed Services Committee, 6 April 2017, http://www.southcom.mil/Portals/7/Documents/ Posture%20Statements/SOUTHCOM_2017_posture_statement_FINAL. pdf?ver=2017-04-06-105819-923 2 Regional Insights

The United States TOC penetration and abuse.

After a comprehensive assessment in 2010, the U.S. 4. Defeat transnational criminal networks that government concluded that transnational organized pose the greatest threat to national security crime should be considered a national security threat by targeting their infrastructures, depriving requiring a distinct national security strategy. It de- them of their enabling means, and prevent- termined that TCOs are increasingly able to pene- ing the criminal facilitation of terrorist ac- trate and/or co-opt state structures in some countries. tivities. Transnational organized crime threatens global eco- 5. Build international consensus, multilat- nomic interests and international markets by distort- eral cooperation, and public-private part- ing prices, demand and supply. Moreover, terror and nerships to defeat transnational organized insurgent groups, like Al Qaeda and Hezbollah, are crime.3 increasingly relying on TCOs for funding and logisti- cal support, with particularly dangerous implications for the potential movement of operatives and weap- ons of mass destruction.2 In July 2011, the White House issued the U.S. Strategy to Combat Trans- national Organized Crime (CTOC) to focus U.S. efforts to detect, degrade, dismantle and prosecute transnational criminal networks through interagency and international cooperation. The strategy consid- ers the Western Hemisphere as an area where illicit trafficking in drugs, people, and weapons [by TCOs] fuel increased instability and threaten the prosperity Photo caption: Belizean security forces onboard a U.S. Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter during a drug eradication opera- of some Central American states.” The strategy has tion in Belize in 2015. Photo credit: Westin Warburton, Joint Task Force Bravo. five main objectives:

1. Protect Americans and our partners from More recently, on February 9, 2017, the White the harm, violence, and exploitation of House issued Presidential Executive Order (E.O.) transnational criminal networks. 13773 on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Prevent- 2. Help partner countries strengthen gover- ing International Trafficking, demonstrating the new nance and transparency, break the corrup- Administration’s commitment to combat transna- tive power of transnational criminal net- tional organized crime to promote domestic and in- works, and sever state-crime alliances. ternational security. The E.O. recognizes that TCOs 3. Break the economic power of transnation- and subsidiary organizations, including transnation- al criminal networks and protect strategic al drug cartels, have spread throughout the nation, markets and the U.S. financial system from

2 White House, Office of the Press Secretary, “Fact Sheet: Strategy to Combat Transnational Organized Crime,” July 25, 2011, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/07/25/fact-sheet- 3 U.S. CTOC Strategy, https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/ strategy-combat-transnational-organized-crime files/Strategy_to_Combat_Transnational_Organized_Crime_July_2011.pdf 3 Regional Insights threatening the safety of the U.S. and its citizens.4 It volvement is “in support” of those law enforcement strengthens the enforcement of federal law to thwart agencies. Typically, U.S. military personnel are in- TCOs that threaten public safety and national secu- volved in supporting an interdiction during maritime rity and that are related to: (i) the illegal smuggling operations in international waters, where U.S. Navy and trafficking of humans, drugs or other substances, ships and aircraft patrol and intercept suspected traf- wildlife, and weapons; (ii) corruption, cybercrime, fickers. The actual interdictions – boarding, search, fraud, financial crimes, and intellectual-property seizures and arrests – are led and conducted by em- theft; or (iii) the illegal concealment or transfer of barked U.S. Coast Guard Law Enforcement Detach- proceeds derived from such illicit activities.5 ments or partner nation drug law enforcement agen- cies.6 The collaborative partnership between law In the United States, there are clear roles and enforcement and the military is the cornerstone of an responsibilities for law enforcement and the military effective U.S. CTOC strategy. to counter TCOs. U.S. law enforcement, like the FBI and DEA, leads the CTOC campaign, with the sup- Mexico port of the Department of Defense and the armed ser- Threatened by formidable non-state actors like the vices. Under Title X authority, U.S. Southern Com- Mexican cartels and Central American gangs, Latin mand (SOUTHCOM) supports U.S. law enforcement American governments are redefining “national se- and other countries’ CTOC efforts through detection curity” and reorganizing their security forces to meet and monitoring, network analysis, information shar- the evolving challenges from transnational criminal ing and partner nation capacity building. The Depart- organizations. Since police forces have been infil- ment of Defense is the lead federal agency in efforts trated or overwhelmed by TCOs in some countries, to detect and monitor aerial and maritime transit of the military once charged with the defense of their illegal drugs towards the United States. Joint Inter- country’s sovereignty from external enemies are now agency Task Force South (JIATF-South), based in engaged in internal security and deployed in law en- Key West, Florida serves as the National Task Force forcement missions against TCOs. In 2006, Mexi- that conducts integrated and synchronized interagen- can President Felipe Calderon adopted the “kingpin cy counter-illicit trafficking operations in the Carib- strategy” to pursue TCO leaders and deployed the bean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, and the eastern Pacific. Mexican military to the streets to combat the car- It also collects, processes, and disseminates counter tels head-on in an attempt to reduce the drug-related drug information for interagency and partner nation violence that left an estimated 60,000 dead between operations. 2006-2012. Using information gathered by JIATF-South coordinated operations, U.S. law enforcement agen- cies and partner nations take the lead in interdicting drug traffickers. Any U.S. military interdiction- in

4 Presidential Executive Order on Enforcing Federal Law with Respect to Transnational Criminal Organizations and Preventing International Trafficking, February 9, 2017 https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/02/09/ presidential-executive-order-enforcing-federal-law-respect-transnational 6 U.S. Southern Command website, http://www.southcom.mil/Focus-Areas/ 5 Ibid. Transregional-Threat-Networks/Countering-Transnational-Organized-Crime/ 4 Regional Insights

After ten years of the Mexican military de- ployed in law enforcement missions, continued vio- lence and allegations of human rights abuses, there is a very public debate over the appropriate role of the military and police in the continued fight against TCOs.

In December 2016, Mexican Defense Minis- ter Salvador Cienfuegos expressed weariness with the continued use of the military in law enforcement missions against the cartels stating: “We [the mili- tary] didn’t ask to be here. We don’t like it. We didn’t Photo caption: Since 2006, the Mexican Army has played a di- study how to chase criminals. We are doing things rect role in counter narcotics operations throughout the coun- try. In this photo, a Mexican Army soldier participates in the that don’t correspond to our training because there’s 2013 Independence Day celebration in Leon, Mexico. Photo no one else to do them. At the same time, federal credit: Tomas Castelazo, 2013. prosecutors that are not very happy [because] the President Enrique Pena Nieto took office in military are not trained investigators, and they go and 2012 and criticized Calderon’s kingpin strategy for trample evidence and crime scenes inadvertently.”8 splintering the organizations, creating between sixty Acknowledging that Mexico’s armed forces and eighty new, smaller drug trafficking gangs, and have become “the main resource” in confronting or- spreading violence. He vowed to focus more on re- ganized crime and national security issues, PRI con- ducing violence against civilians and businesses gresswoman Martha Sofía Tamayo Morales stated rather than removing the leaders of cartels. Despite that the military’s efficiency has been limited due these pledges, Pena Nieto has continued to rely heav- to the lack of an adequate legal framework, particu- ily on the Mexican military in combination with the larly during its peacetime role. Therefore, PRI con- federal police to address violence.7 Under his leader- gressmen have introduced a draft Internal Security ship, the Mexican military, with U.S. assistance, has Act (ISA) in the lower house that would expand and captured or killed twenty-five of the top thirty-seven regulate the role of the military to counter the TCOs. most wanted drug kingpins in Mexico, but TCOs The bill recommends that the Mexican military pro- are becoming increasingly powerful and violent. vide intelligence to the Mexican government and its One such group in ascendance is New Generation internal security branches. It suggests the formation Jalisco Cartel that demonstrated their firepower in a of a new internal group, comprised of representa- military-style campaign in western Jalisco by using tives from different parts of government, to decide a rocket propelled grenade to blow a Cougar attack on when to implement new special measures that helicopter out of the sky, killing eight soldiers and a the president could set in motion to restore “internal member of the federal police in May 2015.

8 Christopher Woody, “After a decade fighting the cartels, Mexico may be looking for a way to get its military off the front line,” Business Insider, 7 Council on Foreign Relations Mexico’s Drug War Backgrounder, https:// February 13, 2017, http://www.businessinsider.com/mexican-military-role-in- www.cfr.org/backgrounder/mexicos-drug-war fighting-drug-war-and-cartels-2017-2 5 Regional Insights order” within an institution or geographical area of tegration (DDR) of some 7000 FARC guerrillas and the country. The new initiative proposes making the on countering the emerging security threats posed armed forces the last, not first, resort in security mat- the remaining powerful TCOs that dominate the il- ters once all other branches of law enforcement -- the licit economy. municipal, state and federal police as well as the new For decades, the FARC sustained its armed gendarmerie -- have proven to be “insufficient in con- insurgency with lucrative illicit activities including fronting the threat.” It would also mandate more ac- drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion across countability by requiring that the federal government Colombia. With FARC DDR process underway, oth- be informed of all of the actions taken by the armed er armed or criminal groups, including the National forces in its internal security role, as well as the pub- Liberation Army (ELN) and Clan de Golfo, already lication of a regular report on the issue.9 As of this engaged in organized crime are poised to replace the writing, the ISA has not been approved by Congress. FARC, integrate FARC dissidents, and control the The continued high levels of violence, evolving role lucrative illicit economy in Colombia. With an in- of the military and police to counter the cartels, and crease in coca cultivation by 39 percent in 2015 in reinforcing judicial institutions and the rule of law Colombia, according to the U.N. Office of Drugs and will surely be leading issues in the presidential elec- Crime, cocaine production and trafficking is on the tions in Mexico scheduled for July 1, 2018. rise. Since the FARC controlled 70 percent of those Colombia crops in the past, fierce competition among TCOs to replace the FARC in the cocaine trafficking business Colombia has faced serious security challenges from is expected.11 armed groups including the FARC, ELN and crimi- nal mafias for decades. On August 24, 2016, the Colombian government and the FARC (Revolution- ary Armed Forces of Colombia) reached an historic peace accord to end the 53-year old armed conflict that has left as many as 220,000 dead, 25,000 disap- peared, and 5.7 million displaced.10 The key elements of the peace agreement include the future political participation of FARC members, their reintegration into civilian life, illegal crop eradication, transitional justice and reparations, and rebel disarmament. With the country’s largest TCO demobilized, Colombia Photo caption: A Colombian Army soldier stands guard over has now entered the period known as the “post-con- workers eradicating coca plants. Photo credit: Jose Gomez, Reuters. flict.” It will focus on implementing the peace accord including the disarmament, demobilization and rein-

9 Deborah Bondello, Proposed Law in Mexico Could Expand Military Role in Drug War,” InsightCrime.org, November 25, 2016, http://www.insightcrime. 11 org/news-analysis/proposed-law-in-mexico-could-expand-and-regulate- Elizabeth Dickenson, “Colombia’s War Just Ended. A New Wave of military-in-drug-war Violence Is Beginning,” Foreign Policy, August 25, 2016, http://foreignpolicy. 10 Council on Foreign Relations, “Colombia’s Civil Conflict,” https://www.cfr. com/2016/08/25/colombias-war-just-ended-a-new-wave-of-violence-is- org/backgrounder/colombias-civil-conflict beginning/ 6 Regional Insights

To address this evolving security environment, “organized armed groups” or GAO and “organized Colombia is refining the national security mission delinquent groups” or GDO. The GDOs will be per- and transforming its military and police to tackle secuted by the national police, with the support of organized armed groups (GAOs-Grupos Armados the armed forces in certain cases. GAO describes Organizados) and organized crime groups (GDOs- those groups that have an organized structure and Grupos Delictivos Organizados,) formerly referred leadership, commit violent acts against civilian so- to as the BACRIM or criminal gangs. According to ciety and armed forces, and control sizable territory. President Santos, “disbanding organized crime is a The GAO will be prosecuted by the national police priority to give Colombians more security and we are and the armed forces alike, and against this type of not going to drop our guard.” In addition, Minister organization, Directive 15 authorizes all use of nec- of Defense Villegas stated in May 2016, “in Colom- essary force. At least three organizations that meet bia there are mafias and organized crime that we are those standards, Clan Úsuga, Los Puntilleros and going to confront with the full force of the State.” Los Pelusos that will be considered legal targets of Aggressive military and police operations against military strikes. Directive 15 establishes clear con- these TCOs since 2016 illustrate the Santos Admin- cepts for the use of force and the definition of threats, istration’s commitment to improving citizen security. in accordance with international standards and guar- The Colombian military will focus on three lines of antees the legal parameters for members of the mili- effort: (1) Sword of Honor: a campaign to permit the tary and police in the exercise of their functions.14 In army to fight against criminal threats; (2) Transition Colombia, the Ministry of Defense directs the armed to Peace: focus on supporting the disarmament, de- forces and national police, in contrast to other Latin mobilization, and reintegration of guerrillas; and (3) American countries that have defense and interior Transformation: the creation of a Command for the ministries. They have worked hand in hand to com- Transformation of the Army, which will develop the bat TCOs, most notably against the FARC, but now military’s strategy for change through 2030.12 must adapt to an evolving security environment in the “post-conflict” period. Since 2011, the national police have been re- sponsible for the fight against so-called criminal According to General Alberto José Mejía, bands under the assertion that military force could Commander of the National Army, the evolution only be legally used against groups that held territory of Colombia’s security forces is underway. He ex- or promoted a political ideology,13 but these criminal plained in June 2017 that the Army’s Transformation groups have since evolved into powerful criminal Command for the Future (COTEF) has embarked on organizations across Colombia. On April 22, 2016, the task of designing a new architecture for the armed the Ministry of Defense issued Directive 15, which forces with two specific missions. First, the military defines the largest criminal organizations as legal tar- will examines the emerging security challenges in gets for military strikes under a new classification as different regions of the country, such as the behavior of criminal gangs, the Clan del Golfo or the new drug

12 Michael Lohmuller, “Colombia Military Envisions Future Crime Fighting Role,” InsightCrime.org, April 7, 2017, http://www.insightcrime.org/news- analysis/colombia-military-envisions-future-crime-fighting-role 14 “Colombia aplicará toda la capacidad de sus FF.AA. contra bandas 13 Ed Buckley, “Colombia’s Next Front: Organized Armed Groups,” The City criminales,” Noticias RCN, May 5, 2016, Paper Bogota, May 18, 2016, https://thecitypaperbogota.com/news/colombias- http://www.noticiasrcn.com/nacional-pais/colombia-aplicara-toda-capacidad- next-front-organized-crime-groups/12851 sus-ffaa-contra-bandas-criminales 7 Regional Insights trafficking groups, some of which can dominate ar- eas where the FARC used to be and seize illicit busi- nesses such as illegal mining. Second, the military will engage more actively with civilians, improve the treatment and communication with indigenous com- munities and vulnerable populations, and respond to their needs. The military will also seek to strengthen ties with other sectors of civil society such as busi- nessmen, academics and other institutions. Both mis- sions seeks to demonstrate that the Army is not only as a combat force but as a multi-mission institution that has the capacity to build roads, deal with trag- edies caused by natural disasters and care for the en- vironment.15

Conclusion

As described above, the U.S., Mexico and Colom- bia consider the threat from transnational criminal organization a vital security concern at the national and regional levels for the Western Hemisphere. While each country has its own legal authorities and organization of its military and police forces, all countries realize that interagency and international cooperation is critical to counter TCOs and promote prosperity and citizen security in the region. In the face of emerging security threats from TCOs, gov- ernments will need a reinforced legal framework, clearly defined missions for the military and police, specialized training, and talent recruitment and re- tention to realize security sector reform to counter transnational organized crime effectively across the Americas.

William J. Perry Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies 260 5th Ave., Bldg. 64 Abraham Lincoln Hall, Fort McNair Washington, DC 20319-5066 15 ¿Hacia dónde van las fuerzas armadas?, Semana, June 30, 2017, http://www. www.williamjperrycenter.org semana.com/nacion/articulo/la-transformacion-del-ejercito-nacional-en-el- Layout Design: Viviana Edwards posconflicto/530569 8