International Journal on Criminology Volume 6, Number 2, Winter 2018/Spring 2019 | Page 27

International Journal on Criminology
Before 2012: A Strong Criminal Presence
In keeping with the rest of the United States, Colorado is affected by this crime
situation, especially because its geographical location makes it a transit zone
for the flow of drugs, in particular toward the Canadian market. It is therefore
not surprising to find a strong presence of specialized drug-trafficking organizations
there. In 2015, a mapping of their presence and areas of influence in the
United States conducted by the DEA and the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement
Task Force (OCDETF) highlighted the presence of Mexican cartels. 4 The Sinaloa
cartel, Mexico’s most powerful criminal organization, was present in the state’s two
largest cities, Denver and Colorado Springs. US experts also identified the presence
of the Beltrán-Leyva cartel.
Along with Salt Lake City, Utah, these two cities are distribution centers
that supply the regional drugs market for an area that includes the states of Montana
and Wyoming. It should be noted that Colorado is also a major highway hub
that many trucks use to reach Mexico. Crossing the state is Interstate 25 (I-25),
which passes through New Mexico and is one of the main highway routes toward
the Rio Grande. The I-25 also connects with two of the country’s other major highways,
the I-70 and the I-80.
Besides Mexican organized crime, the second most important actor is
gangs, in particular ones of Hispanic and African-American origin. For example,
the Crips 5 are well established in northeastern Denver.
As can be seen, this strong criminal presence in Colorado was (and still is)
a challenge for the public authorities, as the more powerful and diversified organizations
are in terms of criminal activities, the better cushioned they are against
the inevitable financial impact of legalization policies. In this regard, the country’s
rich criminal history provides an illustration of this: the relegalization of alcohol
in 1931 had little impact on the Italian-American mafia, despite its heavy involvement
in alcohol production and smuggling. 6
Organized Crime’s Anticipating and Reorganizing
The data on the impact that cannabis legalization has on criminal organizations
is still very patchy. Nevertheless, the two organizations in charge of
combating drug trafficking that I encountered during field visits carried
4 DEA, Areas of Influence of Major Mexican Transnational Criminal Organizations (Springfield, VA:
DEA, 2015).
5 The Crips have been established in Colorado since the 1980s. They are an offshoot of the Crips and
Blood from the Watts neighborhood in Los Angeles, which is one of the biggest gangs in the United
States, with several tens of thousands of members.
6 Jean-François Gayraud, Le Monde des mafias. Géopolitique du crime organisé (Paris: Odile Jacob,
2008).
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