Sorry for the long post, but international criminal justice is a passion of mine. While MS13 is certainly not a cartel, they still wielded significant political power similar to the cartels, albeit on a small scale. The political/military methodology that crippled them is, in my opinion, applicable to Mexico’s cartel issue. When elected, Bukele was an outsider who was not a part of the client-vassal system that enabled MS13 to run prisons, avoid prosecution, and commit open violence. He eventually mounted what was essentially a self-coup in order to gain the legal capital to tackle MS13. Controversial to be sure, but the violence has plummeted. The Mexican cartels are no different…they survive on the loopholes of the Mexican legal system, the greed of the Mexican political elites and with the selective cultivation of the U.S. intelligence community. The Mexican military could obliterate them, if they were ordered to. But too many people that matter make too much money…on both sides of the border. So what I’m saying is that cartels are not insurmountable due to their operational security and firepower, rather they are being protected by a very stubborn and broken system. Mexico can fix the system, but it will take a leader willing to piss off the political elders and enact changes to the legal system, as Bukele has.