User talk:Itsmeh69

Tijuana Cartel

Hey, Itsmeh69. Thank you for consulting my talkpage and for letting me know that the other account User:Creator91 is also you. For future reference, make sure to read Wikipedia:Sock puppetry. It is generally preferred for you to edit on one account because opening a new account to edit improperly (details on what is considered "improper" are discussed at the page) are considered a serious breach to community trust. Anyways, welcome again to Wikipedia. To answer your concern, let's analyze your update to the Tijuana Cartel more closely:

• Paragraph 1

The first paragraph is somewhat true, though the citation you used for it is very outdated (information dates back to 1997). In order to make an appropriate update, you'll have to find information from 2012–2013 that talks about the operational capacity of the cartel. Their "very active" status and infiltration of the local police aren't as clear-cut as they were in the 1990s, however; after the arrest and deaths of the Arellano Félix brothers, the cartel was severely weakened. There is some disagreement among authorities and crime specialists on whether really the Tijuana Cartel is active; according to the DEA, the Arellano Félix Cartel (specifically referring to the brothers) is dead. [1] But crime specialists disagree with this statement and believe that the TC is still operating, although merely as a puppet of the Sinaloa Cartel. [2] [3] You can find a lot of information on that at insightcrime.org.

Now, to go back to your update, the source you provided does not mention the gangs (MS-13, Nortenos, Vice Lords and Latin Kings) that the TC supposedly uses to move drugs in the U.S. Nor does it mention police corruption. Any update made on Wikipedia should be attributed to a source, and the information in the source should back all of it. If not, the information will be considered original research and erased.

• Paragraph 2

The first sentence here is cited accordingly, so I guess that could stay (though I'm not sure where you could add it exactly, given the the article still needs to be expanded to include the 1990s era most appropriately). You may also want to add the first sentence on the Ramón Arellano Félix article because that was one of his roles in the cartel. The second sentence that talks about "William Elliott 'Big Money' Shores" isn't found in the other source you provided. In addition, that man (as far as I am aware of) has nothing to do with the TC, the subject of this article.

• Paragraph 3

This paragraph talks about Rosalio Reta, who was a low-level hired assassin for Miguel Treviño Morales, the former Zetas boss. I already updated the role of U.S. assassins in his article, but I didn't feel that including Rosalio's personal experience and name were notable enough for inclusion. Read the last three sentences of the first paragraph here. In addition, I removed the information because Rosalio has nothing to do with the TC. The information you provided is very true, however. You might want to add the role of the San Diego-based Logan Heights gang, its alliance with the Tijuana Cartel, and its role in the murder of the Cardenal Juan Jesús Posadas Ocampo. Just make sure that you use reliable sources, cite everything accordingly, and stay with the subject matter. Here are other reports of the cross-border gang alliance you might find interesting for future research. [4] [5]

• Paragraph 4

The first sentence seems to be original research. Remember that this is an encyclopedia and not a webpage where we want to get a point across. The last sentence, I think, talks about the activeness of the TC today, right? Though true, the source you provided does not mention the TC.

I want to thank you for contributing to Wikipedia. Please do not feel discouraged of editing here. There are some things you might find daunting at first, but for the most part, editing here can be very easy and fun. Maybe you might want to start with smaller topics first (I started editing biographies first—it's easier to stick to the subject matter and they truly help to get the "bigger picture"). Right now I am working on the biographies of the major Mexican drug lords, though I often move from article to article if they are on the news. The most recent TC drug lord I updated was Francisco Rafael Arellano Félix, and I am currently reading a few books for the X-mas on "El Chapo" Guzman. I'll be updating his page too during the break.

Suggestions

In order to make your post better, I think you should make sure your updates stay within the article's subject. With big articles like this, it's easy to move around from one subject to another, and especially when you're using news articles. News articles are really informative and good for Wikipedia, but they should be used with caution because they also give background information and tie in different arguments. Book sources on Google Books are easier for writing articles about drug trafficking organizations than news articles, so you might want to check those out. I tend to do an outline on paper when I want to write an article about something as big as this. If you can, make sure to write an outline about the things you think should be included in the article and then start that way. For example, for the TC, an outline could go as the following:

(1) Background information of the split of the Guadalajara Cartel and formation of the TC

(2) The arrival of the Arellano Félix in Tijuana

(3) Their rise in the late 1980s and early 1990s

(4) Their disagreements with the Sinaloa Cartel

(4a) The results of that antagonism for the TC

(5) Death of Posadas Ocampo

(5a) The results of the event for the TC

(6) Post-1993 for the TC

(7) Early 2000s era (their downfall)

(7a) Conviction and more arrests of leaders

(8) Current status in 2011–2013

If you can look at all these points more closely, you'll have a lot to write about the TC. This is just a quick example. I'm sure there is more to add. Please let me know if there is anything else you need. I am glad to help out. And I am grateful there's someone to take on this article. Best, ComputerJA (☎ • ✎) 20:03, 30 November 2013 (UTC)