This course breaks down the major issues relating to the #1 criminal threat to the United States: the Mexican Cartels. Officers will leave this class with individual information on the most powerful groups operating throughout the U.S. and the World, their splinter groups, their tactics, the reasons for their growth, continuing power, and impunity. Students will gain an in depth understanding on the heavy emphasis on “Narco Cultura” (Mexican Drug Cartel Culture), including but not limited to: “Narco” fashions, symbolism, the difference between “Folk Saints” and “Patron Saints”, including Santa Muerte and Jesus Malverde, as well as detailed, extensive instruction on how some of these “Saints” could be used both as non-criminal and criminal behaviors.
Throughout this course, attendees will learn about the current trends of drug trafficking in the U.S. Galarza will teach about Anti-Bias Policing, Community Policing, Officer Safety, Marijuana issues, Reclassification of the Cartels into Foreign Terrorist Organizations, the “Plaza” system, the “King Pin Approach”, “El Culiacanazo”, the current Fentanyl crisis, effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on drug trafficking, growth of Cartel Jalisco Nueva Generation (CJNG), China and the Cartels, US/Mexico Diplomatic Environment, and much more.
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Instructor Det. Vic Galarza, who began his law enforcement career in 2011, is currently a decorated detective and task force officer in the southwest region of Colorado. Galarza has personal accounts of many Mexican cartels dating back to the Guadalajara Cartel and has investigated members of the Los Zetas, Sinaloa, Golfo, La Familia Michoacana, and Tersera Hermandad cartels. Additionally, he was a Mexican diplomat in the United States bearing an A-1, and later G-1, diplomatic status which allowed him to train with the Mexican Navy, Army, and Mexican Estado Major Presidencial. In 2018, Galarza founded the Vigilance Project to provide information to law enforcement officers in criminal investigations, local and federal narcotics investigations, arson, and trafficking investigations. Furthermore, Galarza is the proud recipient of two Distinguished Service Awards and a Meritorious Service Award for bravery.