In waging war against the United States, terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda and ISIS take most of the media attention. While the threat posed by these organizations is valid and cannot be taken lightly, the methods and supplies they use to carry out their goals are hard to acquire, and even harder to move into the United States, a prime target of both criminals and terrorists.

With that understanding, it is easy to say that the biggest threat to US sovereignty lies in the hands of the Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs), which are heavily composed of Mexican, Central and South American drug cartels, and the U.S street gangs that they employ to do their bidding.

These cartels stage their North American enterprises in Mexico, but run operations into the United States. Therefore, they not only have the advantage of being in close proximity to the US border, but they also benefit from a diverse money-making empire that ranges from the sale of illicit narcotics and weapons, prostitution, sex slavery and human trafficking, to legitimate businesses that are used to generate revenue and launder illegal proceeds.

The cartels, as they exist today, came into prominence in the early to mid-2000s when the southern border of the United States became divided territory assigned to specific ones.

In that, they each staked out a section of the border across which they would run their criminal enterprises without competition or threat from the others. The putative agreement that created this new, formal structure only enhanced their successes. These border areas are called "plazas" (defined areas of the border for illicit purposes) and each cartel controls its area through extreme violence. Violence is used to increase protection in the assigned areas, and to deter those not willing to pay the bribes necessary to operate along the border.

The violence has not been isolated to Mexico, however, and has spilled across the border into the United States to varying degrees. This has even manifested itself in shootouts across and well inside US territory, to include firearms engagements with American law enforcement.

Increasing the threat of these TCOs is a terrorist connection. Recent intelligence is showing a growing trend of association between these cartels and overseas terrorist organizations. The use of the cartels' land and sea routes of ingress into the US, and the tunnels dug underneath the border, serve as ready gateways for terrorists and possibly even the movement of weapons of mass destruction.

The first step in countering these increasing threats is to understand the tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by these groups to conduct their operations. With the lessons and assignments in this course, you will get a chance to analyze the various TTPs used by the TCOs and take a studied look at what has gone right, and what still needs to be improved.

Specifically, the paper should meet the following criteria requirements:

Identify and define the criminal enterprise.

Identify the originating country or countries of this criminal operation.

Describe the historical origins of this crime.

Identify the different transnational crime groups that historically engaged in this enterprise, as well as those that are prolific in it today.

Provide a short literature review of what you have learned about this enterprise.

Provide one or more criminological theories that best describe and explain the nature of this enterprise, and reasons for its existence (for instance desire for illicit drugs or sex by members of the public).

Provide a short summary of the global trends and impacts of this crime from a global threat perspective, including where relevant:

Society

Politics

Economy

Security

Formulate approaches and collaboration techniques to ameliorate the enterprise and activities associated with it.

The paper should be four (4) to six (6) pages, double spaced, and approximately 2,000 to 3,000 words. This does not include title page, table of contents and source references (all of which are required). The paper must be APA compliant, including source references.

All pages must have page numbers, as well as an introduction and conclusion, titled as such, and main body and sub-sections with appropriate titles. Title page must be APA compliant, and include student's name, program and course, instructor name, university and date.