Mexican illegal trade in the context of organized crime

This thesis focuses on the highly discussed topic of organized crime in Mexico and the illegal business operations carried out by Mexican groups of organized crime denominated drug cartels. The text is divided into two parts. The theoretical part includes definitions, characteristics and trends of organized crime and illegal trade and problems in dealing with this problem. The practical part then focuses on the specific situation in Mexico (cartels, their activities, functioning, influence and solution proposal). This paper aims to analyze the current situation and functioning of drug cartels in the country through different perspectives (typology, activities, way and cause of their origin) in order to map their impact and influence, while demonstrating that these groups fulfill the global concept of international organized crime. Partial targets will be the comparison of the functioning of these groups of organized crime and legal businesses; find out whether or not these activities affect political and economic development; based on the previous information analyze key issues and last, but not least to propose solutions to combat this phenomenon