Based on the conceptualizations of organized crime as both an enterprise and a form of governance, borderland as a spatial category, and borders as institutions, this paper looks at the politics of bordering practices by organized crime in the Colombian-Venezuelan borderlands. It posits that contrary to the common assumptions about transnational organized crime, criminal organizations not only blur or erode the border but rather enforce it to their own benefit. In doing so, these groups set norms to regulate socio-spatial practices, informal and illegal economies, and migration flows, creating overlapping social orders and, lastly, (re)shaping the borderland. Theoretically, the analysis brings together insights from political geography, border studies, and organized crime literature, while empirically, it draws on direct observation, criminal justice data, and in-depth interviews.

Criminal governance understood as the regulation of social order, including informal or illegal economies through the establishment of formal and informal institutions that replace, complement, or compete with the state and distribute public goods (e.g., social services, justice, and security) is an expanding area of inquiry in the field of criminology. This analysis, which centers on Latin America, a region beset by this problem, unpacks specific dimensions of this concept including the overlap between the state and criminal orders, the relationship between violence and consent, and violence management through selective forms of enforcement. In so doing it sheds light on how changes in the architecture of governance of many underprivileged communities across the world, but especially in the Global South, is affecting in critical ways the lives and wellbeing of millions of individuals. The discussion underscores the need to reinforce interdisciplinary work linking criminology and other disciplines (e.g., political science, sociology, law, anthropology) as a way to enhance our understanding of the profound impact that criminal governance orders have on the political and social dimensions of contemporary societies.

Law enforcement interventions in drug markets require policy coordination to prevent collateral outcomes that might harm vulnerable people under criminal control and spread crime across places. This paper analyzes street-level peace building in the inner city at the frontline of the ongoing urban war on drugs in Colombia. Building on the emergent literature on criminal governance and using crime script models, the paper argues that behind the chaos that in appearance prevails in open-air drug markets, illegal economies in Colombia's urban centers are ruled by schemes that set parallel mechanisms of order, social control, and distribution. Furthermore, the paper addresses the ways in which street-level bureaucracies and therapeutic policing interventions can become a way of building urban proximity, connectedness, and trust in the context of contested informalities.

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Este texto recoge el eje central de la política de seguridad que se estructuró para la ciudad de Bogotá a partir de la intervención en el Bronx el 26 de mayo del 2015. Es un análisis de política pública desde la perspectiva de los aciertos y los desafíos de la implementación cuyas limitaciones consisten en que no ofrece una evaluación de impacto cuantitativa de la intervención sobre el comportamiento delictivo del centro de la ciudad. Para la elaboración de este texto se hicieron entrevistas con expertos, toma-dores de decisión, implementadores y consumidores de drogas. Asimismo, se utilizó información de fuentes abiertas e informes elaborados por la Secretaría de Seguridad, Convivencia y Justicia. El capítulo concluye que las intervenciones integrales de seguridad ciudadana deben ser concertadas, escalonadas, interagenciales y sostenibles para poder ser considerada exitosas.