How do we best combat cartels newly designated as foreign terrorist organizations?

Disrupting Cartels and Transnational Criminal Organizations for Maximizing the Counter Network Division Workforce: Lessons from Dismantling Foreign Terrorist Organizations

Download the Year 6 project summary.

So What?

This project addresses the increase in cartel and transnational criminal organization (TCO) designations as Foreign Terrorist Organizations/Specially Designated Global Terrorists and the resulting need for DHS to rapidly operationalize new authorities.

Project Summary

Researchers will map the TCO ecosystem, analyze legal and operational authorities, maximize the counter network workforce through site visits and working groups, and produce tools and forecasts for operators.

Purpose/Objectives

The work aims to sharpen DHS decision‑making, accelerate joint action, and improve disruption of TCO networks across theaters of operation.

Method

Methods include leveraging open‑source low‑cost information to derive insights, comparative analyses between cartels and known FTOs, leadership/talent profiling, ecosystem network mapping, and engagement at U.S. Southern and Northern Borders.

Outputs and Impact

Expected outputs include:

• an authorities toolkit
• biweekly threat forecasts
• ecosystem and decision frameworks
• talent profiles
• assessments of tactical innovation and special operations capacity

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Research Team

Gina Ligon, Ph.D.

• University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Director of NCITE
• Professor
• Expertise: Extremist organizations and leadership

Samuel Hunter, Ph.D.

• University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Professor
• Department of Psychology
• Head of Strategic Operations at NCITE
• Expertise: Organizational psychology, innovation, and malevolent creativity

Austin Doctor, Ph.D.

• Co-PI
• NCITE Director of Strategic Initiatives
• Assistant Professor of Political Science | University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Expertise: Militants, terrorism, irregular warfare, and emerging threats