ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 introduces the first case study of this book, the Sinaloa cartel. Better known for its infamous leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel is recorded as one of the largest and most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world. This criminal group has significant presence on social media. Just on Twitter, the Sinaloa cartel’s network has more than 140 million followers combined. The social network analysis of their Twitter network reveals a similar structure to the one the organization holds physically (i.e. hub-and-spokes). Some structural and behavioral patterns can be depicted, such as subgroups and personal interests. This case presented the most successful social media strategy, focused on (i) social acceptance; (ii) using it as a force multiplier; and (iii) establishing a closed–open communication system where the most central nodes serve as disseminators of information. Although, throughout the drug war years, the cartel has suffered significant disruptions, the most important one being the capture of El Chapo, the cartel presented the highest level of survival capacity in this study.
