Habla Narco?

Codes of the Cartels

As reporters, we are constantly faced with an onslaught of acronyms, cop-speak (my favorite one is when an officer refers to the dead guy as a complainant), legalese or some other form of jargon.

Many of these terms have made it into the scripts of popular TV shows and our daily lives. (Mom: "unsub" stands for unknown subject).

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Now added to the list is so-called "Narco Speak", the lingo of the drug cartels. So if you've ever wondered (or if you haven't) why the Spanish words for ant, falcon or "the horns of goat" are heard more and more around these parts, it's because of the cartels influence on fashion, music and in some facets, popular culture.

Agents at the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC--see, another acronym) compiled a report on the meaning of certain code words and symbols embraced by the "narco culture."

To read the report, click here.