Examines gang history in the region encompassing West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Northern Chihuahua, Mexico. Tapia looks extensively at the role of history and geography on criminal subculture formation in the binational urban setting of El Paso-Juarez, demonstrating the region’s unique context for criminogenic processes. He provides a poignant case study of Homeland Security and the apparent lack of drug-war spillover in communities on the US-Mexico border.