Networks in the criminal world: an interview with Sam Logan

Written by Heather McLeod Grant on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
Filed under Network theory, Networks in action, Synthesis

For those of us who’ve been drinking the kool-aid that networks are a force for good, investigative journalist Samuel Logan’s new book This Is for the Mara Salvatrucha: Inside the MS-13, America’s Most Violent Gang is a good reminder that networks can also be a force for evil. He visited Monitor’s offices recently to speak about his book, as part of a regular event called GBN In Conversation, and share what he has learned about organized crime and gang networks. We had a chance to interview him afterward, and get his take on the topic. Sam is an investigative journalist with over 11 years of experience in Latin America. His work focuses on black markets, organized crime, street gangs and other matters of national and human security. He is also the founder and editor of Southern Pulse | Networked Intelligence, a not-for-profit human intelligence organization focused on security, politics, and energy in Latin America.

Working Wikily: Can you give us a quick summary of how networks factor into your research?

Sam Logan: The idea of the network effect – where people are loosely connected in one way or another, and they all draw advantages from being part of network – is often applied to business strategies. The way I look at it, it’s also applied as a criminal strategy. Within the black market economy, and areas of Latin America, it has been the driver of the recent evolution of organized crime. One of the distinctions I’ve observed [among organized crime] is the movement from an organizational structure – pyramid shaped, like the Italian mafias – to one that is a flat, horizontally structured network. The MS-13, and Mexican organized criminal groups now operate this way. So that’s my entrance into the network effect, and how it works in criminal world.

WW: So if that’s how gangs and criminal networks organize, can the same logic be applied to intervene and break them up?

SL: I had a discussion with a guy at the FBI who works on the national gang task force – how do they go about identifying who the “shot-callers” are within the network in the US? Because essentially what they are trying to do is cut off the heads [of the network] and let the group dissolve that way. Each node is called a clique, and each clique has 1-2 leaders, so if you can take out those two guys, the rest scurry. But even at the level of the FBI….[they] are so saddled with operational requirements and expectations, they don’t have time to look at the 40,000 foot picture and say what is an efficient method for going about achieving results. One of biggest complaints is they don’t have time to stand back and look at this.

WW: How might network approaches help them?

SL: The best practices that work in the NGO world can also be applied to law enforcement; the problem is, they aren’t doing that….[I’ve been] talking to analysts who work in the private sector, the intelligence community, and they are all stuck in the “Think Tank 1.0” model. When you get out of that box, you can begin looking at things through the lens of how networks work. There’s a slow and steady movement in that direction…To what extent are you looking at the world through a lens of networks understanding, networks intelligence, in terms of the way you gather information, how you apply that and share it?

WW: What other work are you doing related to networks?

SL: The other aspect of networks that is worth mentioning – it’s a project called Southern Pulse: we are using a network-effect and open source within the intelligence-gathering world. The idea for Southern Pulse is the Think Tank 2.0 model – decentralizing [intelligence gathering] and building out a network. It started with myself and four contacts, and then we reached out to our contacts, to begin a project of sharing information with one another. Initially it was a spin-off from my blog, and newsletter. We cover security issues in Latin America. Within the network of 600 self-recruited individuals, half provide us with information. They have found so much value in the information, they want to give back….[The site] is set up like a blog – each bit of information is organized as a blog where you can comment….In terms of preparing the newsletter, there is an editorial role: we take scraps of info, boil it down into concise information, or short paragraphs that we call “pulses,” focused on southern half of the world. 60% of different [news] feeds we receive come from all around the world. The other 40% come from on the ground: law enforcement, academics, journalists, business men – they send information they receive on the ground. The content is heavily weighted toward organized crime and security.

WW: Where can someone go for more information?

SL: My blog at networkedintelligence.wordpress.com and my website at southernpulse.com.