Part 4/6:
The distinctions in motivation have significant implications for how authorities might approach dismantling these groups. While ideological groups have deeply ingrained beliefs that can be exploited or challenged through ideological confrontation, drug cartels lack such a unifying belief system. Their cohesion depends more on economic interests and the influence they wield through wealth and violence.
This difference suggests that targeting the financial and structural foundations of cartels could be a more effective strategy. Because these organizations do not have an ideological rigidity that sustains them, they may be more vulnerable to dismantling if law enforcement or policy efforts are carefully crafted to attack their sources of power.