Terrorist Vs Cartel Groups

There is a fragile line between gangs, terrorist and cartel groups and their definitions are becoming more ill-defined and blurred. A criminal officer should try and understand the three groups to be able to have more successful quests and investigations when dealing with each of them individually and in their shared pursuit. There are quite vital comparable elements that subsist between the gangs, terrorist, and cartel groups. These comparable elements comprise the self- motivated leadership, in/out-group attitudes and the techniques of recruitment. Although there are in existence some comparable elements, there are also some notable differences regarding behavior of each group, the objectives of the group and the control levels

Cartels primary objectives are to ensure that

they restrict competition and that they benefit from the profits collectively. The most known cartels are the drug cartels. Both cartels and gangs involve violence at a point or another and all recruit young men and women to do their dirty work.

"Sicaritos are children who are assassins, 13 or 14 years old," says Soto. "[The cartels] give them a weapon to use. It's easier for a boy. If he's older, he thinks too much — he may think about the consequences. But when you're young, you think you can take on the world." (Office of the Attorney General of Florida, 2009) The main difference between a gang and a cartel is that cartels have strict structure and organization while gangs can be described to be loosely structured and organized. Cartels are more focused on profit than on any other thing while gangs are less focused on making a profit. Unlike gangs, cartels develop from organizations with influence and power (O’Deane, 2010). Unlike gangs, cartels have been known to have geographic locations that are defined and territorially

One cannot use age as a discriminating aspect when distinguishing the three since all the three groups tend to have a blend of both adults and youths. Members of all the three groups commit theft, fraud, forgery, weapons trafficking and even violent street crime (Varese, 2010). Gangs, cartels, and terrorist groups are all in the criminal space. Artificial distinctions must be well rethought out so that they can be distinguished separately Gangs, cartels, and terrorists are connected in that it is entirely possible that a group can advance from being a gang group to developing into a terrorist group or even a cartel. Initially, the incentive for organized and gangs crime was principally financial while the incentive for terrorists was mainly political. Gangs have been known to be also inspired by aspects of opportunity. The connection between gangs, cartels, and terrorists is reliant on also the country and the country’s development level. There is little difference between the groups since a gang can end up being a cartel group or a terrorist group. Terrorists and gangs as well as gangs and cartels while are expected to co-exist through business transactions. It is also notable those gangs are becoming more organized and that their criminality relationships are also becoming more diversified with the element of profit being the primary motivator (Carter, Rush &