TBI Provides Briefing for U.S. Senate Drug Caucus Staff

On Wednesday, March 14, 2012, the Trans-Border Institute (TBI) provided a briefing on drug violence in Mexico for staff members working for members of the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control (CINC). The CINC, also known as the "Drug Caucus," is chaired by Senators Diane Feinstein (D-CA) and Charles Grassley (R-IA), and is in the process of preparing for a hearing on drug trafficking and violence in Mexico. The briefing consisted of an overview of the report recently authored by TBI researchers Cory Molzahn, Viridiana Ríos, and David A. Shirk, Drug Violence in Mexico: Data and Analysis through 2011, which provides a detailed explanation of recent trends based on the latest available official statistics on organized crime related homicides in Mexico. The Trans-Border Institute has been monitoring these trends for the past five years as part of the Justice in Mexico Project, which monitors security, human rights, and other rule of law issues in Mexico. As in the recent TBI report, the briefing emphasized the shifting trajectory and growing dispersion of violence, the splintering of Mexico's drug cartels and the diversification of their criminal activities, and the need to re-evaluate current strategies for confronting drug trafficking and organized crime in Mexico. The briefing was intended to provide background for the Senate Caucus as it prepares for an upcoming hearing and a corresponding report in late April.