Bunker, Khirin A.

Bunker, Robert J.

Sullivan, John P.

Keck Graduate Institute

Claremont Colleges
Scholarship @ Claremont
CGU Faculty Publications and Research CGU Faculty Scholarship
1-1-2013
Film Review: Narco Cultura – A Tale of Three
Cities
John P. Sullivan
Khirin A. Bunker
Robert J. Bunker
Claremont Graduate University
This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Faculty Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion
in CGU Faculty Publications and Research by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contact
scholarship@cuc.claremont.edu.
Recommended Citation
Sullivan, John P., Bunker, Khirin A., and Bunker, Robert J. "Film Review: Narco Cultura – A Tale of Three Cities." Small Wars Journal.
20 December 2013, http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/film-review-narco-cultura-%E2%80%93-a-tale-of-three-cities.
Film Review: Narco Cultura ? A Tale of Three 
Cities
By John P. Sullivan, Khirin A. Bunker and Robert Bunker
Journal Article | Dec 20 2013 - 8:53am
Film Review: Narco Cultura  A Tale of Three Cities
John P. Sullivan, Khirin A. Bunker, and Robert J. Bunker
Narco Cultura, a documentary by Israeli photojournalist Saul 
Schwarz (run-time 103 min.), is billed on its website as an explosive look at Mexican drug cartels 
cultural influence on both sides of the border.  It is indeed a salient exploration of narco-culture (
narcocultura) and its impact on cross-border society.  The film is more accurately a tale of three cities in 
the drug war zone: Ciudad JuÆrez in Chihuahua; Los Angeles, California; and Culiacan, Sinaloa.  The 
story unfolds in the midst of the Sinaloa Cartels invasion of the plaza (Cd. Juarez). As the Cartel de 
Sinaloa fought the Cartel de JuÆrez (JuÆrez Cartel) in a four-year struggle for control of the El Paso-JuÆrez 
plaza
 for transshipping drugs, approximately 10,000 persons were killed. During that timeframe Cd. 
JuÆrez became the worlds most dangerous city.
Schwarz uses the narco-battle for JuÆrez to expose the horror and barbarization of the drug war.  In JuÆrez, 
we see the valiant crime scene technicians (peritos) of SEMEFO (Servicio MØdico Forense, the medical 
examiners service of the Chihuahua state prosecutor (Fiscalía General del Estado-FGE) toil tirelessly 
under great personal risk to d cument the aftermath of executions.  As they do so, we see one 
protagonist investigator, Richi Soto, come to grips with the threat. During the course of the film, four of 
his colleagues fall victim to the cartel sicarios.  His boss resigns under threat of death.   The p ritos can 
only document the killings.  The community derisively calls them collectors of bullets. Impunity reigns. 
Less than three percent of the deaths investigated actually see criminal prosecutions; only about one 
percent result in convictions. Just as Schwartz chronicles the impunity and its results, an Angelino singer 
Edgar Quintero chronicles the cartels exploits.
For Quintero, the American singer from Los Angeles, the cartels are the rising social forceall things 
narco
are sexy and socially relevant.  Beyond that, the Sinaloa Cartel reigns supreme. Its caposEl Chapo 
Guzman and El Mayo Zambadathe feudal drug barons of the Sinaloa Federation are the most 
powerful (mas poderoso). Quintero extols their virtues to a nightclub following seeking rich and powerful 
heroes. The narcocorridos liken the narcos to Robin Hoods. Here mafiosos (who frequently 
commission the ballads) embrace the role of social bandit. Quintero and his band BuKnas de CuliacÆn 
sing about the drug war.  Using AK-47s and a Bazooka (actually an inert AT4) as a prop, they hail the 
recent exploits of the sicarios and the power of the capos.
Narcocultura is on the ascendency. Narcocorridos are not new.  This genre of music has its roots in folk 
music and norteæo ballads.  Like Pancho Villa, who was venerated in song during the revolution, these 
ballads extol the virtues of those who rebel against the corrupt state.  The poor and powerless look for 
symbols of power and rebellion.  Yet the narcocorrido is more than Hip Hop or gangster rap south of the 
border.  It is not only a form of cross-border musical social commentary; it is a means of cartel 
information operations and a vehicle of social-environmental modification. In this film, we see bands and 
singers in the orbit of Sinaloa (El Komander and the BuKnas de CulicÆn). Their songs are a form of 
information operations for the Sinaloa Federation. The Movimiento Alterado (altered movement) is the 
business name of the narcocorrido or corridos alterados movement in Los Angeles.  The movement and 
songs are sanctioned by the Sinaloa Cartel.  The narcocorridos are banned in parts of Mexico so they are 
produced in Los Angeles, home to a large immigrant community and numerous gangs.  
While LA is the home of the business, Sinaloa is its spiritual font. In recognition of this, Quintero travels 
to CuliacÆn to earn his bones and see the roots of the Sinaloa narco-empire.  Before leaving for Sinaloa, he 
receives a blessing at an LA Santa Muerte temple. On the ground in CuliacÆn, he meets cartel 
functionaries who tell him the cartel dominates the territory.  He wears a medallion of Jesœs Malverde 
(Sinaloas folk saint), and visits the narcotumbas (tombs) of the Jardines de Humaya. The mausoleums 
and tombs of the Jardines are essentially a narco-necropolis, a city of dead narcos. The opulent tombs, 
larger than many homes in JuÆrez, provide a stark contrast to the graves with wooden crosses in that 
town.  Yet both reinforce the impact of the culture of death and violence that challenges Mexicos stability 
and soul. 
Some reviewers have commented that the violence in this film is graphic (the film has been rated R for 
grisly graphic images of disturbing violent content, drug material, language and brief nudity). We found it 
rather subdued given the extent of hyperviolence and barbarization that occurs daily in the drug war. 
Schwarz captures the harrowing, dystopian nature of the violence without glorifying it. His most haunting 
image is actually the lament of a mother who lost her sonwho was decapitated alivein JuÆrez. 
Some things are left unsaid: what is the extent of cartel control of the movimiento alterado?  Do the 
producers and bands pay a tax to operate?  What about the troubadours for other cartels? Does the touring 
circuit of the bands reflect the cartels turf?  These are threads for future documentaries.  For its part, 
Narco Cultura succeeds in bringing the narcocultura story to an American audience. Narcocultura is a 
battle for Mexicos soul and it is being waged on both sides of the frontier.
Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Note:
 We viewed the documentary in the greater Los Angeles 
metropolitan area in mid-December. Post viewing discussions focused on the three cities dynamic and 
also, possibly more significantly, on the touring circuits of the bands. With the closure of NDIC (National 
Drug Intelligence Center), determining Mexican cartel area of operations within the US is becoming more 
problematic. NDIC would, on occasion, release For Public Distribution maps and data in order to 
promote public awareness concerning cartel activities in the US. Analyzing the touring circuits of the 
narco tribute bands (for instance, the BuKnas) may represent one way of determining which cartels may 
have pockets of affinity audiences in various cities and regions of the US. Known data pointssuch as 
Sinaloa cartel activity in Chicagocan then be validated against the tour schedules vis-a-vis cartel areas 
of operation as a proof of concept. The merchandizing of the narcocorridos in national chains, such as 
Walmart, may potentially represent another opportunity to determine affinity audience pockets in the 
US, if point-of-sale data can be analyzed.
About the Authors
John P. Sullivan
John P. Sullivan is a career police officer. He currently serves as a lieutenant with 
the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department. He is also an Adjunct Researcher at the 
Vortex Foundation; Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies on 
Terrorism (CAST); and Senior Fellow at Small Wars Journal-El Centro. He is co-
editor of Countering Terrorism and WMD: Creating a Global Counter- Terrorism 
Network
 (Routledge, 2006) and Global Biosecurity: Threats and Responses
(Routledge, 2010). He is co- author of Mexicos Criminal Insurgency: A Small Wars 
Journal-El Centro Anthology
 (iUniverse, 2011). His current research focus is the 
impact of transnational organized crime on sovereignty in Mexico and other 
countries.
Khirin A. Bunker
Khirin A. Bunker is in the political science honors program at the University of 
California Riverside and is a co-founder and a Director of the Political Science 
Society. He has interned at the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship 
and Political Philosophy and holds an International Baccalaureate (IB) degree. He 
supports SWJ-El Centro anthology book production and is presently researching 
refugee and depopulation of village issues related to the criminal insurgencies in 
Mexico.
Robert Bunker
Dr. Robert J. Bunker holds degrees in political science, government, behavioral 
science, social science, anthropology-geography, and history. Training taken 
includes that provided by DHS, FLETC, DIA, Cal DOJ, Cal POST, LA JRIC, 
NTOA, and private security entities in counter-terrorism, counter-surveillance, 
incident-response, force protection, and intelligence. Dr. Bunker has been involved 
in red teaming and counter-terrorism exercises and has provided operations support 
within Los Angeles County.
Available online at :http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/film-review-narco-cultura-
%E2%80%93-a-tale-of-three-cities
Links:
{1} http://smallwarsjournal.com/author/john-p-sullivan
{2} http://smallwarsjournal.com/author/khirin-a-bunker
{3} http://smallwarsjournal.com/author/robert-bunker
{4} http://narcoculture.com
{5} http://www.insightcrime.org/juarez-war-stability-and-the-future/juarez-police-politicians-picked-
winners-gang-war
{6} http://diario.mx/Local/2013-06-03_c7e47ccf/
{7} http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/criminal-insurgency-narcocultura-social-banditry-and-
information-operations
{8} http://www.amazon.com/Narcocorrido-Journey-Music-Drugs-Guerrillas/dp/0060505109
{9} https://www.facebook.com/ElKomanderTwinsCuliacan
{10} https://www.facebook.com/BuknasDeCuliacan.Oficial
{11} http://www.corridosalterados.net
{12} http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/21/movimiento-alterado-sinaloa_n_1163608.html
{13} http://noticias.terra.com.mx/mexico/seguridad/tumbas-y-mausoleos-lujosos-de-narcotraficantes-
mexicanos,58f686fe9e902410VgnVCM3000009af154d0RCRD.html
{14} http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/in-sinaloa-a-cemetery-dominated-by-narcos
{15} http://ivn.us/2012/09/25/barbarization-in-mexico-drug-war/
{16} http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/10/081110fa_fact_guillermoprieto
{17} http://www.bandsintown.com/BuknasDeCuliacan/past_events?page=4
{18} http://smallwarsjournal.com/comment/reply/15048#comment-form
Copyright ' 2013, Small Wars Foundation.
Select uses allowed by Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 license per our Terms of Use.
Please help us support the Small Wars Community.


English

Film Review: Narco Cultura – A Tale of Three Cities

Scholarship@Claremont

Claremont CollegesScholarship @ ClaremontCGU Faculty Publications and Research CGU Faculty Scholarship1-1-2013Film Review: Narco Cultura – A Tale of ThreeCitiesJohn P. SullivanKhirin A. BunkerRobert J. BunkerClaremont Graduate UniversityThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the CGU Faculty Scholarship at Scholarship @ Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusionin CGU Faculty Publications and Research by an authorized administrator of Scholarship @ Claremont. For more information, please contactscholarship@cuc.claremont.edu.Recommended CitationSullivan, John P., Bunker, Khirin A., and Bunker, Robert J. "Film Review: Narco Cultura – A Tale of Three Cities." Small Wars Journal.20 December 2013, http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/film-review-narco-cultura-%E2%80%93-a-tale-of-three-cities.Film Review: Narco Cultura ? A Tale of Three CitiesBy John P. Sullivan, Khirin A. Bunker and Robert BunkerJournal Article | Dec 20 2013 - 8:53amFilm Review: Narco Cultura  A Tale of Three CitiesJohn P. Sullivan, Khirin A. Bunker, and Robert J. BunkerNarco Cultura, a documentary by Israeli photojournalist Saul Schwarz (run-time 103 min.), is billed on its website as an explosive look at Mexican drug cartels cultural influence on both sides of the border.  It is indeed a salient exploration of narco-culture (narcocultura) and its impact on cross-border society.  The film is more accurately a tale of three cities in the drug war zone: Ciudad JuÆrez in Chihuahua; Los Angeles, California; and Culiacan, Sinaloa.  The story unfolds in the midst of the Sinaloa Cartels invasion of the plaza (Cd. Juarez). As the Cartel de Sinaloa fought the Cartel de JuÆrez (JuÆrez Cartel) in a four-year struggle for control of the El Paso-JuÆrez plaza for transshipping drugs, approximately 10,000 persons were killed. During that timeframe Cd. JuÆrez became the worlds most dangerous city.Schwarz uses the narco-battle for JuÆrez to expose the horror and barbarization of the drug war.  In JuÆrez, we see the valiant crime scene technicians (peritos) of SEMEFO (Servicio MØdico Forense, the medical examiners service of the Chihuahua state prosecutor (Fiscalía General del Estado-FGE) toil tirelessly under great personal risk to d cument the aftermath of executions.  As they do so, we see one protagonist investigator, Richi Soto, come to grips with the threat. During the course of the film, four of his colleagues fall victim to the cartel sicarios.  His boss resigns under threat of death.   The p ritos can only document the killings.  The community derisively calls them collectors of bullets. Impunity reigns. Less than three percent of the deaths investigated actually see criminal prosecutions; only about one percent result in convictions. Just as Schwartz chronicles the impunity and its results, an Angelino singer Edgar Quintero chronicles the cartels exploits.For Quintero, the American singer from Los Angeles, the cartels are the rising social forceall things narcoare sexy and socially relevant.  Beyond that, the Sinaloa Cartel reigns supreme. Its caposEl Chapo Guzman and El Mayo Zambadathe feudal drug barons of the Sinaloa Federation are the most powerful (mas poderoso). Quintero extols their virtues to a nightclub following seeking rich and powerful heroes. The narcocorridos liken the narcos to Robin Hoods. Here mafiosos (who frequently commission the ballads) embrace the role of social bandit. Quintero and his band BuKnas de CuliacÆn sing about the drug war.  Using AK-47s and a Bazooka (actually an inert AT4) as a prop, they hail the recent exploits of the sicarios and the power of the capos.Narcocultura is on the ascendency. Narcocorridos are not new.  This genre of music has its roots in folk music and norteæo ballads.  Like Pancho Villa, who was venerated in song during the revolution, these ballads extol the virtues of those who rebel against the corrupt state.  The poor and powerless look for symbols of power and rebellion.  Yet the narcocorrido is more than Hip Hop or gangster rap south of the border.  It is not only a form of cross-border musical social commentary; it is a means of cartel information operations and a vehicle of social-environmental modification. In this film, we see bands and singers in the orbit of Sinaloa (El Komander and the BuKnas de CulicÆn). Their songs are a form of information operations for the Sinaloa Federation. The Movimiento Alterado (altered movement) is the business name of the narcocorrido or corridos alterados movement in Los Angeles.  The movement and songs are sanctioned by the Sinaloa Cartel.  The narcocorridos are banned in parts of Mexico so they are produced in Los Angeles, home to a large immigrant community and numerous gangs.  While LA is the home of the business, Sinaloa is its spiritual font. In recognition of this, Quintero travels to CuliacÆn to earn his bones and see the roots of the Sinaloa narco-empire.  Before leaving for Sinaloa, he receives a blessing at an LA Santa Muerte temple. On the ground in CuliacÆn, he meets cartel functionaries who tell him the cartel dominates the territory.  He wears a medallion of Jesœs Malverde (Sinaloas folk saint), and visits the narcotumbas (tombs) of the Jardines de Humaya. The mausoleums and tombs of the Jardines are essentially a narco-necropolis, a city of dead narcos. The opulent tombs, larger than many homes in JuÆrez, provide a stark contrast to the graves with wooden crosses in that town.  Yet both reinforce the impact of the culture of death and violence that challenges Mexicos stability and soul. Some reviewers have commented that the violence in this film is graphic (the film has been rated R for grisly graphic images of disturbing violent content, drug material, language and brief nudity). We found it rather subdued given the extent of hyperviolence and barbarization that occurs daily in the drug war. Schwarz captures the harrowing, dystopian nature of the violence without glorifying it. His most haunting image is actually the lament of a mother who lost her sonwho was decapitated alivein JuÆrez. Some things are left unsaid: what is the extent of cartel control of the movimiento alterado?  Do the producers and bands pay a tax to operate?  What about the troubadours for other cartels? Does the touring circuit of the bands reflect the cartels turf?  These are threads for future documentaries.  For its part, Narco Cultura succeeds in bringing the narcocultura story to an American audience. Narcocultura is a battle for Mexicos soul and it is being waged on both sides of the frontier.Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) Note: We viewed the documentary in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area in mid-December. Post viewing discussions focused on the three cities dynamic and also, possibly more significantly, on the touring circuits of the bands. With the closure of NDIC (National Drug Intelligence Center), determining Mexican cartel area of operations within the US is becoming more problematic. NDIC would, on occasion, release For Public Distribution maps and data in order to promote public awareness concerning cartel activities in the US. Analyzing the touring circuits of the narco tribute bands (for instance, the BuKnas) may represent one way of determining which cartels may have pockets of affinity audiences in various cities and regions of the US. Known data pointssuch as Sinaloa cartel activity in Chicagocan then be validated against the tour schedules vis-a-vis cartel areas of operation as a proof of concept. The merchandizing of the narcocorridos in national chains, such as Walmart, may potentially represent another opportunity to determine affinity audience pockets in the US, if point-of-sale data can be analyzed.About the AuthorsJohn P. SullivanJohn P. Sullivan is a career police officer. He currently serves as a lieutenant with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department. He is also an Adjunct Researcher at the Vortex Foundation; Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies on Terrorism (CAST); and Senior Fellow at Small Wars Journal-El Centro. He is co-editor of Countering Terrorism and WMD: Creating a Global Counter- Terrorism Network (Routledge, 2006) and Global Biosecurity: Threats and Responses(Routledge, 2010). He is co- author of Mexicos Criminal Insurgency: A Small Wars Journal-El Centro Anthology (iUniverse, 2011). His current research focus is the impact of transnational organized crime on sovereignty in Mexico and other countries.Khirin A. BunkerKhirin A. Bunker is in the political science honors program at the University of California Riverside and is a co-founder and a Director of the Political Science Society. He has interned at the Claremont Institute for the Study of Statesmanship and Political Philosophy and holds an International Baccalaureate (IB) degree. He supports SWJ-El Centro anthology book production and is presently researching refugee and depopulation of village issues related to the criminal insurgencies in Mexico.Robert BunkerDr. Robert J. Bunker holds degrees in political science, government, behavioral science, social science, anthropology-geography, and history. Training taken includes that provided by DHS, FLETC, DIA, Cal DOJ, Cal POST, LA JRIC, NTOA, and private security entities in counter-terrorism, counter-surveillance, incident-response, force protection, and intelligence. Dr. Bunker has been involved in red teaming and counter-terrorism exercises and has provided operations support within Los Angeles County.Available online at :http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/film-review-narco-cultura-%E2%80%93-a-tale-of-three-citiesLinks:{1} http://smallwarsjournal.com/author/john-p-sullivan{2} http://smallwarsjournal.com/author/khirin-a-bunker{3} http://smallwarsjournal.com/author/robert-bunker{4} http://narcoculture.com{5} http://www.insightcrime.org/juarez-war-stability-and-the-future/juarez-police-politicians-picked-winners-gang-war{6} http://diario.mx/Local/2013-06-03_c7e47ccf/{7} http://smallwarsjournal.com/jrnl/art/criminal-insurgency-narcocultura-social-banditry-and-information-operations{8} http://www.amazon.com/Narcocorrido-Journey-Music-Drugs-Guerrillas/dp/0060505109{9} https://www.facebook.com/ElKomanderTwinsCuliacan{10} https://www.facebook.com/BuknasDeCuliacan.Oficial{11} http://www.corridosalterados.net{12} http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/21/movimiento-alterado-sinaloa_n_1163608.html{13} http://noticias.terra.com.mx/mexico/seguridad/tumbas-y-mausoleos-lujosos-de-narcotraficantes-mexicanos,58f686fe9e902410VgnVCM3000009af154d0RCRD.html{14} http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/in-sinaloa-a-cemetery-dominated-by-narcos{15} http://ivn.us/2012/09/25/barbarization-in-mexico-drug-war/{16} http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/11/10/081110fa_fact_guillermoprieto{17} http://www.bandsintown.com/BuknasDeCuliacan/past_events?page=4{18} http://smallwarsjournal.com/comment/reply/15048#comment-formCopyright ' 2013, Small Wars Foundation.Select uses allowed by Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 license per our Terms of Use.Please help us support the Small Wars Community.

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Film Review: Narco Cultura – A Tale of Three Cities

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