This study will investigate how drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) destabilize and weaken the institutional order of society, to create and sustain a facilitative environment for their illegal activities. Utilizing a mixed method case study research design, empirical data will be collected to illuminate the interactions between the various activities of the DTOs and the resultant social control responses of the state and wider society. The aim is to produce a generalizable understanding of how organized crime activities contribute to the weakening of state governance.