Can the U.S. Win the Narcos War?

In this episode, Mariana speaks with Ioan Grillo, a journalist and prolific author specializing in organized crime and drug trafficking. They discuss how and why security cooperation between the U.S. and Mexico has increased to historic levels—fueled by the threats and demands imposed by President Trump, the impact U.S.-Mexican cooperation could actually have (and is starting to have) on the ground, the power and control organized crime exerts in large parts of the Mexican territory, and the size of the U.S. drug market which fuels this vicious circle. They also speak about the internal cartel wars, benefits that the designation of cartels as terror organizations could bring, the complications of going after the money, and how the use of military grade weaponry is changing the realities of this war.

You can listen to Can the U.S. Win the Narcos War? online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Can the U.S. Win the Narcos War? is an episode from Mexico Matters by Center for Strategic and International Studies.

This episode is 47:27 long.

This episode was published on Sep 11, 2025.

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