Pandillas Callejeras: A Qualitative Study on Texas- México Border Gangs in Semi-Rural Border Communities

Abstract

Organized crime is one of the United States security priorities, including Mexican cartels and transnational gang drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) along the Texas-México border. Organized crime behaviors along the Texas-México border have garnered global attention due to the ever-evolving criminal operandi that generate illicit revenue. In this article, Texas-México organized crime is evaluated by analyzing several criminal groups: Mexican drug cartels, US-based gangs, and hybrid-neighborhood gangs. This article employs a qualitative comparative case study approach to N = 96 police investigative reports collected from the Texas-México border and provided by the Zapata County Sheriff’s Office. From the 96 investigative report data, two groups were generated to form gang-related reports (N= 48), and non-gang reports (N = 48). The qualitative analysis included thematic analysis and conceptual mapping using the computer-assisted qualitative analysis software, MAXQDA. The police investigative reports consist of official Sheriff Deputy narratives explaining the observed behavior of individuals engaging in border crime. The police investigative reports included two Texas-México border crimes: migrant smuggling and drug crimes, both of which were analyzed to qualitatively explain gang and non-gang behavioral differences. The qualitative results found Tango Blast gang members to predominate the gang incidents along the Texas-México border but also indicated support for the manifestation of hybrid-neighborhood gang drug trafficking in higher populated border towns. The non-gang group demonstrated a higher number of migrant victims with migrant smuggling incidents. The study findings provide implications for theory, policy, and law enforcement programs with future directions for police executives and public safety stakeholders.

Keywords: Texas-México border, criminal street gang, human smuggling, drug crime, qualitative research

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