Reddit reviews El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency

Heya! Great questions:

1. I haven't actually seen Traffic! It's like one of the few drug war movies that's slipped through my fingers. Gotta get it moved up on the list, along with El Infierno and Cartel Land. Always more research to do! So... I think Traffic influenced the game, but probably through secondary vectors (like Sicario).
   
   
2. I mean... Sicario is a great example. Josh Brolin's character (El Güero) doesn't care about justice; Emily Blunt's character (La Esperanzada) is in way over her head. Similar dynamic between Ruben Blades and Johnny Depp in Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
   
   I'm excited about these playbooks because they seem like natural allies...but they are probably more opposed than most of the playbooks in the game! It will be neat to see what happens when they both show up in the same session.
   
   
3. I do hope that people take away some understanding of the nature of the drug war from the game. All of the people who are affected are in a terrible position because we (Americans) don't want to take our addictions seriously. We're hoping we can legislate them away or pretend they don't exist. Nothing will stop the murders and the pain and the suffering short of some sort of legalization or decriminalization.
   
   As for books/resources, I would recommend El Narco:
   
   https://www.amazon.com/El-Narco-Mexicos-Criminal-Insurgency/dp/1608194019
   
   It's a fantastic resource, written with a real sense of the style of Mexico and the absurd irony of the whole situation. I think it's a great read.
   
   And thank you! Excited that you're excited!

I'd recommend El Narco: Inside Mexico's Criminal Insurgency by Ioan grillo. It covers in depth all of the queries you seem to be interested in. Read this last year and it's top notch.

This is a pretty good question. There are a handful of books here in Mexico but I don't know if they have been translated or if an english speaker has written a book about it.

EDIT: http://www.amazon.com/El-Narco-Mexicos-Criminal-Insurgency/dp/1608194019/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413387728&sr=1-14&keywords=mexico

El Narco

Narcoleaks

Narcoland

and

Drug War Mexico

There is also a good book about Juarez and the cartels also by Anabel Hernández, Los señores del narco, but I do not know if it is in Spanish.

Dude ask google not reddit. But a lot of it is America's fault (I know, how original), because we buy most of their drugs and sell them most of their guns.

This seems like a good book on the subject, reading is always the best option.

http://www.amazon.com/El-Narco-Mexicos-Criminal-Insurgency/dp/1608194019/ref=pd_sim_b_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0A0HGXZ779GP1XD5TS7X